66 YEARS AFTER INDEPENDENCE: WHAT HAVE WE REALLY BUILT?

 

I am not sure there is much that feels “happy” about our independence today.

Sixty-six years after we gained independence, it sometimes feels as though we exchanged the chains of colonialism for the burden of being failed by our own systems and institutions.

I watched President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Independence Day address with keen interest, and I have also followed the reactions to it, including the stat

ement by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, particularly the emphasis on the cost of transportation. President Tinubu himself acknowledged in his address that affordable transportation must be part of a Nigeria where ordinary families can live with dignity.

But I have consistently maintained that transportation is too important to be treated merely as an intervention.

The Pi-CNG & EV programme has produced measurable interventions, including CNG and electric buses, conversion infrastructure and efforts to reduce fares. Government says these measures are already lowering transportation costs on some routes.

But interventions are not the same thing as a functioning transportation system.

A serious transportation system requires intentional planning, legislation, infrastructure, maintenance, accountability and long-term funding. It must be designed around the daily transit needs of the people, not only around the immediate crisis of fuel prices.

Nobody understands the consequences of a failed public transportation system quite like the people of the FCT.

What happened to the Abuja Urban Mass Transit buses popularly known as the “El-Rufai buses”? Introduced to provide mass transit and reduce pressure on Abuja’s roads, many of those buses eventually disappeared from service. Investigations have attributed the decline to issues including poor maintenance, management problems and policy changes.

The question therefore remains: how do we build systems that survive beyond the political administration that introduces them?

How long can government continue to pour money into temporary interventions before we accept that Nigeria needs a properly structured, accountable and sustainable public transportation system?

Look at China. Its high-speed rail network demonstrates that transportation infrastructure can be treated as strategic national infrastructure, with benefits that extend beyond the fare collected from individual passengers. The World Bank has documented that some Chinese high-speed rail lines have faced financial viability challenges, while also highlighting substantial economic benefits such as reduced travel time, improved connectivity and greater service availability.

That is the kind of thinking we need.

Transportation is not simply about moving people from Point A to Point B. It determines whether people can get to work, whether businesses can function, whether students can access education, whether families can afford to live, and whether a city can grow efficiently.

As Nigeria turns 66, perhaps the most important thing we can do is to stop asking only, “What intervention can we announce today?” and start asking, “What systems are we building that will still serve Nigerians decades from now?”

Our independence should mean more than the absence of colonial rule. It should mean the freedom and capacity to build institutions that work for our people.

As we approach another electoral cycle, Nigerians deserve to examine the ideas, records, programmes and practical solutions presented by those seeking public office. We must demand accountability, competence, transparency and a genuine understanding of the problems confronting ordinary people.

Nigeria does not lack potential. What we must build is a system capable of turning that potential into a better quality of life for everyone.

We must begin rebuilding—with intentionality, with accountability and with the people at the centre of government.

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 🇳🇬

AAC DEPLOYS ‘SALES MAESTRO’ IN AMAC/BWARI HOUSE OF REPS RACE

 FMCG GURU NETO OZZOUDE BRINGS MARKET TURNAROUND RECORD TO 2027 CONTEST

ABUJA — The African Action Congress (AAC) is set to take the political contest for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency to a different level with the emergence of FMCG sales and business-development professional Neto Ozzoude as its candidate for the House of Representatives in the 2027 general election.

Ozzoude, widely regarded within the commercial sector as a market-turnaround specialist, enters the race with a professional record built around one central principle: identifying failing systems, understanding what is keeping them down, and developing practical solutions that deliver measurable results.

His professional career has taken him across some of Nigeria’s most challenging commercial territories, where he has been involved in distributor management, market development, sales execution, trade strategy, logistics and business recovery.

His supporters point particularly to his work in Niger State in 2023, Benue State in 2025 and Plateau State in 2026, where he is credited with helping revive markets described as severely challenged or comatose.

That experience, the AAC believes, is precisely the kind of practical problem-solving ability that the AMAC/Bwari constituency needs.

FROM REVIVING MARKETS TO REBUILDING A CONSTITUENCY

For Ozzoude, however, the transition from business to politics is not about changing professions as much as it is about applying the same philosophy to public service.

His argument is simple: if a professional can be trusted to walk into a difficult market, diagnose its problems, mobilise people and resources, and restore growth, that same mindset can be applied to public administration.

Ozzoude's campaign is consequently built around the slogan:

SERVICE, NOT PROMISES.

Rather than presenting politics as an avenue for making grand promises, his campaign says it intends to approach representation as a problem-solving assignment — identifying the everyday challenges facing residents of AMAC and Bwari and pursuing practical, measurable interventions.

Among the issues at the centre of his proposed legislative agenda is one that affects virtually every working household in the Federal Capital Territory: the cost of transportation.

TRANSPORT REFORM AT THE HEART OF THE AGENDA

Ozzoude has proposed an ambitious rethink of mass transportation across AMAC and Bwari, arguing that transportation should not consume a disproportionate share of the income of people who work in the nation's capital.

His proposed approach includes the deployment of subsidised electric-vehicle mass transit, supported by solar-powered charging infrastructure and partnerships with private operators.

The objective is not simply to put more buses on Abuja's roads, but to develop a transportation system capable of providing cheaper, cleaner and more predictable commuting options for residents.

The proposed model would explore partnerships between government, private transport operators and investors, with public intervention targeted at making fares affordable while ensuring that the system remains operationally sustainable.

For Ozzoude, the issue is fundamentally economic.

“Nobody working in AMAC or Bwari should have transport costs draining their salary.”

The proposal is part of a broader philosophy that sees transportation not merely as a mobility issue, but as a cost-of-living, productivity and economic-development issue.

FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COMMUNITY

Ozzoude's proposed agenda extends beyond transportation.

His plans include greater investment in education, youth development, sports, healthcare, housing and basic infrastructure, with particular attention to communities that have historically struggled to access quality public services close to home.

One of his signature proposals is the development of youth sports centres within LEA primary schools, creating accessible spaces where young people can develop athletic talent while keeping sports within their communities.

The idea reflects his belief that sports should not be treated merely as entertainment, but as a tool for youth development, discipline, employment, community engagement and talent discovery.

He has also spoken about the need for better roads, water supply, electricity, drainage, healthcare and education across the constituency — not as isolated promises, but as interconnected components of a functioning community.

A CANDIDATE WHO SAYS HE KNOWS HOW TO FIX BROKEN SYSTEMS

Ozzoude's political proposition is therefore increasingly being framed around the experience he has accumulated in the private sector.

In the FMCG industry, where margins are tight, competition is intense and poor execution can quickly destroy a market, success depends on more than motivation. It requires data, strategy, logistics, people management, accountability and relentless execution.

Those are the qualities Ozzoude says he intends to bring into public office.

His professional experience has involved managing distributors, developing markets, coordinating sales operations, resolving supply and logistics challenges, monitoring performance and building strategies around measurable outcomes.

That experience, his campaign argues, has taught him an important lesson:

Broken systems do not fix themselves. They require people willing to take responsibility, understand the problem and execute the solution.

‘AMAC/BWARI DESERVES REPRESENTATION THAT DELIVERS’

Ozzoude's emergence also adds an interesting dimension to the 2027 race.

Rather than presenting himself solely as a conventional politician, he is positioning himself as a problem solver entering politics with a record of managing people, resources and difficult environments.

His campaign is seeking to make the election a referendum on what representation should actually mean.

For Ozzoude, a federal legislator should not be measured solely by speeches delivered in Abuja or appearances during election season, but by the ability to turn the powers available to the office into tangible benefits for the people represented.

That includes using legislative influence to attract investment, pursue infrastructure, advocate policies that reduce the cost of living, support young people and improve access to essential services.

The campaign's message is therefore deliberately straightforward:

AMAC/BWARI DOES NOT NEED MORE PROMISES. IT NEEDS SERVICE.

And with a career built around reviving difficult markets, Neto Ozzoude now wants to apply the same “turnaround” mentality to public service.

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AC • AMAC/BWARI FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY • 2027