The Founder and Spiritual Master of the Caring and Sharing Sufi Centre, Dr Rasheed Akinbile, has urged Nigerians and their leaders to engage in deep reflection on the country’s development as Nigeria marks its 66th Independence Anniversary.

Akinbile made the call in an Independence Day statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday, saying Nigeria had reached a stage where its citizens needed to determine the kind of country they wanted to build.

He said Nigeria’s population had quadrupled since independence in 1960, making it necessary for the country to examine its progress and determine the values and institutions it wanted to preserve.

The cleric said the country was also undergoing a generational transition, with members of the generation that secured independence gradually passing away while those who inherited leadership responsibilities had grown older.

He said the question for the present generation should no longer be what previous generations built, but what their successors had preserved and improved.

Akinbile described Nigeria at 66 as being in an “institutional adolescence”, saying the country had foundational structures but was still developing the national character required to sustain them.

He identified three major tests for the country: achieving peaceful transfers of political power, feeding its growing population while retaining talented young people, and building a common national identity.

On political transition, he said Nigeria needed a system in which political competition did not threaten citizens’ security or livelihoods, stressing the importance of peaceful elections and stability.

He also called for greater attention to food security and measures to retain talented young Nigerians who might otherwise leave the country in search of opportunities abroad.

On national identity, Akinbile said Nigeria needed a shared national narrative that citizens from different ethnic and religious backgrounds could identify with.

He urged Nigerians to use the 66th anniversary as an opportunity to examine not only the country’s age but also what it had become after decades of independence.

Akinbile, who is also an advocate of religious tolerance, urged citizens to continue working together to build a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria.

He congratulated Nigerians on the Independence Anniversary and expressed hope that the country would fulfil its potential as a leading African nation.