The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, on Thursday urged Nigerians to make the celebration of Nigeria at 60 a driving force to uphold good values.
Akande-Sadipe, in a statement issued by her Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Olamilekan Olusada, reiterated her commitment to legislative representation through her core constituency agenda for emancipation of Oluyole federal constituency.
She, however, described the non-prioritisation of History in the Nigerian educational curriculum as an injustice to the younger generation, who did not know much about Nigeria’s Independence.
“I urge the Federal and State Governments to make History a compulsory subject in schools for pupils and students.
“My definition of Oct. 1, denotes emancipation, reminiscing the sacrifices of my late mentor, Chief Anthony Enahoro, in the Western House of Assembly.
“What Oct. 1, means to me is Emancipation.
“In 1953, Anthony Enahoro who I fondly call Baba Enahoro and my late mentor, initiated the self-government motion in the Western House of Assembly.
“This eventually led to Nigeria’s Independence on Oct. 1, 1960.
“Unfortunately, today, a lot of young people in spite of the elaborate celebrations of the day, are not familiar with that name.
“”It is an injustice as history is no longer a priority in Nigeria’s educational curriculum, a very sad travesty of justice,” she said.
Akande-Sadipe added that Oct. 1, is an opportunity for the citizens of the nation, Nigeria, to ask ourselves the question: are we truly emancipated?
“In my opinion the answer is NO. Today we are no longer slaves to the Europeans, but we are slaves to the corruption that pervades all strata of our society.
“ We are slaves to the ethnic differences that abound in our nation,” she said.
The Rep called on Nigerians to have a deep thought on the state of the nation and where they want the nation to be.
“I, therefore, call on my fellow Nigerians to use this day of celebration to assess where our nation is and to decide where we really want to take our nation.
““It’s truly up to us. I pray that we will be true to ourselves and jointly work toward genuine emancipation of all, across the nation.
“Then shall we have a reason to celebrate real independence,” she said.
Edited By: Donald Ugwu
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