Despite the twin-threats by the dreaded Islamic sect known as Boko Haram and MEND, coupled with early down pour of rain in Lagos, the Lagos State governor, ?Babatunde Fashola and teeming Lagosians yesterday converged on the Police College located in Ikeja area of Lagos to celebrate the nation’s 51st independence.?
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The celebration was marked amid tight security, with heavy security presence to curtail the threats posed by Boko Haram, MEND and other aggrieved groups who had threatened to detonate explosives during the anniversary.?
As early as 7am, the Anti-bomb squad, a specialised outfit from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) cordoned off entrance to the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja, blocking off the entry gate with their vehicle and in the process forced holiday makers to squeeze themselves through the sole exit gate.?
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Though officers of the nation’s security outfits were well represented, the threat to detonate explosives forced many parents and school proprietors to withdraw their pupils from the usually overcrowded parade.?
In his address, Fashola said there were many challenges confronting the country’s advancement towards progress and prosperity.?
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According to him, “There was an election that we had to deal with and about which the overwhelming majority of us were united in our desire to ensure that it was free and fair. There was a shuttering economy that we had to revive to make it more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the greatest number of our people”.?
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? Fashola added that inspite of the challenges, his belief remains unshaken that better days lie ahead for the country.?
? “But it is important to also say that we must earn it by working hard probably more than we have ever done before. We must aspire to those better days which lie ahead of us by exercising greatest restrain that we can muster when things are not going the way we expect”, he said.?
? He noted that poverty, unemployment and hunger were intolerable way of life in a country like Nigeria that is so richly endowed.?
Fashola maintained that the country have had too many strike actions; too many for there to be a consistent period of expected productive change.