A Social rights activist, Comrade Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu, has punctured claims from some quarters that Nigeria is making progress at 65.

Responding to the claims, especially from political leaders, trailing the 65th Independence Anniversary of Nigeria, the former secretary of Civil Liberties Organisatoo, Abia State Branch, stated: “Any claims that Nigeria is making progress should undergo serious psychiatric examination. Those claims are both defeatist in nature and deceitful”.

He continued: “What’s the basis of such unfounded judgement? Is it a medicare that is operating at its lowest ebb? Recurrent insecurity situation that has either refused to abate or fixed, rather reincarnating like the character ‘Abiku’ in one of Wole Soyinka’s poems.

“Anybody making such deceptive claims should point at the basis informing his judgement.” The activist also said that by now Nigerians should outgrow that deplorable level of mindset whereby political leaders engage in useless rhetorics to brainwash them, adding: “Such plots are most times designed to divert perspective on crucial issues bedeviling the country”.

He blamed the plight of the Nigerian masses on docility and gullibility. “We have a citizenry that cannot ask questions or design formidable platforms to hold public office holders accountable. Unfortunately, our leaders ride on this deficiency to hold us hostage,” he noted.