The hope of a rising sun on a depressed nation called Nigeria

Like many countries in Africa, Nigeria's economy had been battling on the edge of a depression for quite some time now. This was due to a variety of factors including an ideological crisis that has been affecting governance since the end of the second republic.

The Economic Intelligence Unit, a research body which covers economic forecasts for over 70 economies worldwide, released a report which classifies Nigeria among the economies that are most likely to witness an economic recession. Nigeria is ranked as the second worst economic in the world, and this is why:

As of 2015, Nigeria ranked as one of the fastest growing economy in the world, with 4.3% GDP growth. However, this figure severely contrasts the report released by EIU which shows that Nigeria's GDP growth will slow down to 1.9%. The primary reason behind this fall in GDP is due to the major fall in the price of oil in international market coupled with a devalued naira exchange rate.

Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in the world. It ranks best in Africa and number two in the world with a population of close to 200 million people. Oil revenues are what drives the country’s economy. This is exacerbated by the fact that Nigeria has been relying on oil for centuries, leaving other sectors in a state of decay. Population growth has both merits and demerits, and as for Nigeria, the uncontrollable growth in population is the bedrock of her problem.

There are many reasons as to why Nigeria is in the situation she is now in, but one of the driving forces is her population growth. It’s not enough for some countries to put their populations into control because of unchecked population growth, and only solutions and new ideas can help them. The result of this uncontrollable population growth is mostly reflected on the unemployment status of the country as well as crime rate. Population growth is like a volcano. A volcanic eruption makes way for fertile volcanic ash, and our population growth has been like an eruption, leading to unemployment and mass retrenchment in most cases.

Crime rate increases in proportion to unemployment rate. It means that crime rate and unemployment rate increase in tandem; there is nothing that reduces crime rate without reducing unemployment rate. Unemployment and crime are the worst evil bedeviling the country called Nigeria. The crime rate is appalling in many cases, and our police force is largely ineffective. Nigeria needs a cure to her unemployment. We cannot revise what has been done in terms of population growth as no one has the power over another man's manhood. And the worst thing is that the poor are mostly the ones with larger families to cater for.

On the increasing rate of unemployment in the country, our educational system contributed to the high level of unemployment in Nigeria. The teachers lied to us, promising us that with good grades we can get a good job after school. Instead of focusing on human development we focus all our energy to getting good grades by all means. Only for us to come out of school and face a world where degrees and certificates are no longer relevant in the making of any man because the offices have been occupied and no new offices are being created. Our education prepare us to be job seekers instead of job creators. There's no way an A is for Apple, and B is for Ball educational system can produce innovative and creative graduates. This is our problem, graduates are only parading degrees and certificates without a technical knowledge about any job.

Following unemployment is insecurity. Nigeria could best be described at this moment as a failed nation due to insecurity. The way we live is worrisome and worrisome. Lives are lost at the whim of the home front invaders. We need the height of good governance to tackle insecurity headlong. The state of insecurity is so bad and frightening. Hundreds are killed every day in Nigeria. We are on the top of insecurity index in the world. Our political space is being run with no respect for democratic tenets. There is no political office holder in Nigeria who respects the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Even the judiciary, they don't respect the constitution. Political stability is much needed in the country. If every state governor in Nigeria takes his turn to give opportunity to his deputy to act as governor, there will be less political volatility in the country. We have governors that don't know what their states' constitution states. In such a scenario, we have ended up having 36 state governors in the country. Imagine, 37 governors in a federation, what can happen to the nation.

And the politicians are largely responsible for the state of insecurity in the country. When anyone losses in an election, he makes the tenure difficult for the winner by way of sponsoring violence, high profile kidnapping, adoption, and other civil unrest, all to tannish the government in office. A nation where dog eat dog is a nation of nobody.

What can be done to fix this mess of a country called Nigeria? Is there still any hope for the rising of the sun over the sea shore of Nigeria?

As a good citizen of my country I strongly believe that there is still hope for sunshine again in Nigeria. Our nation can be great again, instead of looking at the government we need to first look at ourselves. The government can fix things but they can't fix people's minds. We should stop waiting for the government to come and bail us, we should start working on ourselves. If we take up our economic and political responsibilities seriously, we can rescue our nation.

Government can provide infrastructures, but it's the people responsibilities to maintain these infrastructures in most cases. But instead, we are the ones who destroyed these infrastructures and blame it on the government. We see anything government provided as government property, and so exert revenge on the government in any little thing by destroying those infrastructures. We destroyed the schools the government built for our children, we ransacked the local police vehicles and burn them down, we destroyed every public facility on site, and at the end we blame the government for not providing infrastructures for us. The drainage in front of our houses are filled with refused all done by us, and when the roads are washed away by the flood we start abusing the government for the very effect of our careless actions. We all need to fix our minds, stop the blame game and live as responsible citizens and steward to the betterment of Nigeria as a nation.

Our educational system may not change until we have an indigenous working syllabuses that is designed in relation to the demand on our nation. Yet, in this, we need to change the way we approach education. You are not educated to get a job but you are educated to create a job. It's essential in this regard that vocational and technical studies be made Paramount. We must begin to see school not as a place for education but a place for training and retraining, a place to sharpen your skills and strengthen your employability. If we teach our children with that mind set they would not only excel in their academics but be more useful to the society. Let's also see schools as laboratories, let's encourage them to be inquisitive in their subjects and pursue it to the fullest.

It's appalling to see in this era of internet revolution many are still backward in thinking and watch as opportunity pass them day by day. Internet technology can deliver our teaming youths from unemployment. But what is saddening is that majority of youths who have a little knowledge in internet applications only use it for crime to defraud fellow humans. Only a relatively few have been able to maximize the opportunity available on the internet to create a legacy for themselves. It's time we start thinking aright and should no longer see the internet as a mere tool to create virtual window shopping. By doing so we will be able to maximize the opportunities on the internet to create wealth for ourselves and improve our social life and living.

There is still hope for Nigeria and Nigerians, the sun can still rise again tomorrow. It was only a very few that pushed Nigeria into poverty but with hard work, passion and belief in ourselves we can all rise again.

Thanks to @HappyBoy for inspiring this thoughts in me earlier today from your article.