By: Odeh Favour
Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, on Thursday took to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle to criticize the state of the nation as Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Anniversary, declaring that independence without actual freedom remains unfulfilled for millions of citizens.
In a post titled “Nigeria AT 66: Independence Without Freedom Is Not Independence,” Sowore noted that sixty-six years after the Union Jack was lowered for the green-white-green flag, the fundamental promises made to the people are still lacking.
“Today, Nigeria marks 66 years since the Union Jack was lowered and our green-white-green flag was raised. But for millions of Nigerians, the fundamental promise of independence, freedom, dignity, prosperity, justice, and equality, remains unfulfilled,” he stated.
He emphasized that national celebration is unjustified under current socio-economic conditions.
“We cannot celebrate independence while our people are trapped in poverty, hunger, unemployment, insecurity, darkness, and hopelessness,” he wrote.
Lamenting the systemic failures across basic public infrastructure and governance, the presidential candidate said the country cannot claim true sovereignty under widespread hardship.
“We cannot call ourselves truly independent when our children are denied quality education, workers earn wages that cannot sustain their families, hospitals are collapsing, the paltry electricity that exists remains a luxury, and those entrusted with public resources loot with impunity,” Sowore asserted.
He absolved ordinary citizens of responsibility for the country’s plight, pointing accusing fingers at successive political leaderships.
“Nigeria’s problem is not its people. Nigerians are hardworking, creative, resilient, and extraordinarily resourceful.
The tragedy is that successive ruling establishments have squandered our enormous human and natural wealth while demanding endless sacrifices from those who have the least,” he said.
Sowore insisted that citizens require immediate institutional changes rather than ceremonial routines.
“At 66, Nigerians deserve more than ceremonies, speeches, flags, and further empty promises. They deserve equal rights and revolutionary justice,” he stated.
Outlining his vision for a functioning society, he detailed the core necessities every citizen should enjoy.
“They deserve a country where workers earn a living wage;
where education and healthcare are accessible; where electricity works; where young people can build meaningful lives; where farmers can work without fear; and where no Nigerian is arrested, brutalized, or imprisoned simply for challenging those in power,” he added.
He urged the current generation to actively reshape the country’s political direction.
“The task before our generation is not merely to celebrate the independence handed to us in 1960. Our historic duty is to redo it,” Sowore wrote.
Calling for liberation from internal political leadership, he urged systemic resistance.
“We must build a Nigeria that is genuinely independent, not just from colonial rule, but from internal colonizers enmeshed in monumental corruption, oppression, poverty, injustice, ethnic manipulation, religious bigotry, divisive politics, and the political establishment that has held our people down for decades,” he said.
Concluding his message, Sowore stressed that governance must serve the entire populace rather than a select elite.
“Nigeria must work for everyone, not a privileged few. The struggle for a truly independent Nigeria continues. #RevolutionNow,” he stated.
