Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has praised Nigerians for what he described as “uncommon patience, endurance, and resilience despite living under suffocating socio-economic and security conditions.”

In his Independence Day message to Nigerians, the opposition leader alleged that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration had abandoned Nigerians to their fate.

Atiku lamented that Nigerians were enduring pains from “raging insecurity, rising food scarcity, mass unemployment, and a dangerous climate of hopelessness all “compounded by the insensitivity of the APC-led administration”.

“It is tragic that in a country blessed with immense human and material resources, millions of our people have been reduced to refugees and beggars in their fatherland. Every responsible government holds the welfare and security of its citizens as supreme.

“But what we have today is an administration that has abandoned its people. Hunger is killing Nigerians, bandits are massacring communities, yet President Bola Tinubu and his cabinet stand by, unmoved and uncaring.”

While calling on citizens not to lose faith, Atiku reminded Nigerians that 2027 provides a clear opportunity to reject bad leadership and reclaim the promise of a better tomorrow.

“The beauty of democracy lies in the power of the ballot. Oppressed and battered as our people may feel today, they will have the chance to sweep away this inept government at the next polls. That is the power no cabal can take away from the people.” He said.

Atiku said, At 65, Nigeria remains a giant moving painfully slow on feet of clay — a direct result of decades of poor leadership and wasteful governance.

He however, urged Nigerians to keep hope alive, insisting that with the right leadership, the country can still rise from the ashes of failed governance to reclaim its rightful place among the comity of nations

The oppositeion leader also wished Nigerians a happy 65th Independence Day anniversary celebration. (Daily Trust)