By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

Amid downpour and tight security, members of the armed forces, the police, para-military agencies, voluntary organisations, school children as well as Lagos  State residents trooped  to Police College, Ikeja,yesterday, to commemorate the nation’s 51st independence anniversary.

Governor Babatunde Fashola, in his address after the march pass by various groups, expressed great optimism about Nigeria’s  future, saying better days lie ahead.

He said: “In the course of the 51st  anniversary address, I had cause to assert that Nigeria’s good days are ahead of us and not behind us.

“Today, inspite of the challenges that we face, my belief is unshaken; that our better days lie ahead of us, but it is important to also say that we must earn it by working hard, probably harder than we have ever done before.

“We must earn it by promoting our common humanity and embracing peace, probably more than we have ever done before.”

Meanwhile, Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria said Nigeria was lying prostrate in the age of progress because the leaders could not get it right.

In a statement by the state publicity secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the ACN said, “The leaders of Nigeria have frittered away the precious gift of time (51 years of existence) on frivolities, acrimony, and division and consequently put a knife on things that held us together as a nation.

“Lagos ACN challenges the majority in Nigeria who want to keep Nigeria as one indivisible political entity to learn the tricks of the destroyers of Nigeria by working 24 hours too. Our huge diversity should be a plus and not limitation.