Nigeria@65: I Had Good Sleep, Breakfast After Cancelling Independence Day Parade – Tinubu
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports as gathered that the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has said that the cancellation of Nigeria’s 65th Independence Day military parade which was meant to hold on October one, gave him the opportunity to rest well and enjoy a “nice breakfast” on Wednesday.
OTN News further reports that the president, who disclosed this while speaking at the unveiling of the renovated Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, formerly known as the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, said that the cancellation gave him a break from the “monotony” of the usual military parade.
According to him, I’m more than grateful for tonight. I enjoyed the evening. Happy 65th Independence Anniversary. This has broken the monotony of military march-past, parade and everything.
“By cancelling this programme, I was able to have a good sleep, have a nice breakfast and wait for this evening. And the evening is well spent,” he said.
OTN News had earlier reported that the Federal Government had announced the cancellation of the parade scheduled for October 1 in a statement released on Monday by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Segun Imohiosen.
Giving reason for the cancellation, the presidency explained that the decision “is in no way a diminishment of the significance of this milestone anniversary.”
Despite the cancellation of the independent day parade, the president found it worthy to attend the ceremony hosted by the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, in Lagos.
Tinubu arrived at the venue at about 6:24 p.m. for the reopening ceremony of the monument, which was funded and overseen by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee.
OTN News recalls that the president had in July renamed the edifice after Prof. Soyinka, describing him as “one of the greatest assets of the world, Africa and Nigeria.”
“So, it couldn’t have been anything else and I know definitely you (referring to Soyinka) will not disobey this president. I said it has to be Wole Soyinka Centre,” Tinubu added.
The unveiling was attended by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin; Speaker Tajudeen Abbas; Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu; the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II; and Wole Soyinka himself, who was the host of the occasion.
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