65 Years Old. Still Standing. Still Hurting. Atiku Says: “We’re Tougher Than This Mess.”

By: Akinde S. Oluwaseun

Nigeria turns 65 tomorrow. Yeah — sixty-five. Not the shiny kind of birthday you throw confetti for. More like the one where you sit down, sigh, and ask yourself… how did we get here?

Atiku Abubakar — remember him? Ex-VP, still got opinions — spoke up. Not with fancy speeches. Just raw. Real. Like your uncle after a long day, staring into his tea, saying what everyone’s thinking but too scared to say out loud.

He said Nigerians? We’re still breathing. Still pushing. Even when the lights go out. When food prices laugh at your salary. When bandits roll into towns like they own them. When hope feels like a ghost — barely there.

And yeah — he blamed the APC government. Hard. Called them “insensitive.” Said they’ve turned Nigeria into a place where people beg in their own streets. Where kids go to school hungry. Where parents bury children killed by bullets or hunger or both.

“Tragic,” he said. And it is. A country this rich — people this smart — reduced to surviving instead of thriving.

But here’s the twist — he didn’t just rage. He reminded us: 2027 is coming. That’s our shot. Our vote. Our power. No cabal, no general, no minister can steal that from us. Ballot boxes don’t lie. They listen. They answer.

“We’re not broken,” he basically said. “Just bruised. And bruised people? They heal. Especially when they choose better.”

At 65, Nigeria’s still a giant — but walking on wobbly legs. Clay feet. Decades of bad choices, lazy leaders, wasted chances. But hey — giants can stand back up. If we push them.

So happy Independence Day, Nigeria. Not because everything’s fine. But because we’re still here. Still fighting. Still believing — even when it hurts.

Atiku says: Don’t give up. The next chapter? It’s ours to write.

(P.S. He also said “happy anniversary.” Because even in crisis, manners matter.)