The Nigeria of my dream

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Avatar for Fexonice1
3 years ago

Earlier today, I had a heated argument with my colleagues at the BCH Nigerian forum that focused on the comity of our country Nigeria. The controversy stemmed from last year's END SARS protests that were said to have led to the massacre of promising young men by military men. The debate was so intense that almost all participants were angry at being Nigerian.

But how did we get here? What went wrong that Nigeria as a nation is now so widely regarded by its citizens for ridicule?

Nigeria is currently undergoing several societal issues that are tarnishing the country's image in the eyes of the international community. One of the most serious issues is that of corruption, inflation, and insecurity. Solving these issues has become an urgent necessity. The issue of using public office for private gain has become the usual norm and practice.

Corruption has become a contentious topic on a global scale. Bribery, extortion, embezzlement, tax evasion, black money, and other forms of corruption have been very frequent in recent years. Nigeria is the only place I have seen where the police arrive an hour after a crime has been committed. where delivery of Pizza arrives faster than an ambulance.

Corruption is a termite that wreaks havoc on the environment. Our public life has been tainted by corruption on all levels. Officers work for their greed at the police offices, tax departments, and even the so-called Economic and financial crime commission EFCC. A person must spend a huge amount of money to lobby higher officials to obtain a government job. Nigeria has corrupt diseases like cancer that fail to heal. Everyone aspires to get wealthy in a short time. Greed, materialistic ambitions, a lack of fear of the law, a lack of role models, power and authority abuse, peer and societal pressure, and so on are a few of the incidence of corruption in Nigeria.

Corruption can be eliminated only if the public and government work together. It will be necessary to awaken and enlighten the people. Laws must be created that is both strong and rigorous. No one must be above the law.

Other anti-corruption measures include increased surveillance, exemplary punishment for criminals, parental counseling, and the installation of values in the mind of our teeming youths.

Inflation is another issue that is too hard to bear in Nigeria at the moment. Inflation can be defined as an increase in the price of basic commodities. It entails a steady rise in the cost of goods and services. Every other day, we hear that the cost of necessary goods such as cooking gas, petrol, diesel, food products such as rice, vegetables, and so on has increased. Due to the skyrocketing prices, it has become extremely difficult for the average family to survive in Nigeria.

While the poor are having a hard time struggling to get two square meals a day, the central banking authority and the federal government keep increasing the costs of living past sensible cutoff points. On one hand, they are embezzling the money and storing it in foreign bank accounts, while the poor citizens are starving.

They send their kids to foreign countries for schooling, while the poor citizens are left with no option except to send their kids to the dilapidated school building for learning. Their kids were born with a silver spoon and have a great vehicle ride directly from youth; Other kids who are brought into the world to poor parents who have no money to move out of their stricken Single room apartment at Oshodi, Agege, and other slum areas sees this dichotomy annoying. A single room apartment currently costs around 60,000 NGR a year. A bag of rice of 50 kg is sold at 55,000 NGR, a bag of beans goes up to 120k NGR. Indeed, even vegetables, for example, tomatoes and potatoes, and onions cost are now too costly for the struggling poor to afford. Transport fares have likewise gone up due to consistently rising costs of petrol and diesel. A liter of petrol now costs between 165 to 200NGR depending on the area you live in the country. There is pain and anger in the land.

Any government must cater to its citizens especially the poor by providing them their necessities at reasonable costs. Government-subsidized food stores ought to be opened in designated locations, especially for rural dwellers. Hoarders of public goods should be severely dealt with.

The height of insecurity in Nigeria today is alarming. Herdsmen have taken over several local communities, ransacking and killing innocent people. Raping and maiming women and young girls. Farmers now go to the farm with their lives in their hands. Additionally, kidnapping has become the order of the day as if it's now a legal business. No single day passes without an incident of one adduction or the other within the country. To travel and return in safety is now a big deal in Nigeria.

To make matter worse, agitation for secession are mounting pressure on the government. The indigenous people of Biafran IPOB in the east want a nation of their own, the Arewa in the northern part of the country want their nation, the Oduduwa in the middle Bert also ask for their nation. No wonder a bill was moved by a legislature to rename the country to Africa united republic AUR.

There's tension in the land. And as I write this, there's a remembrance mixed with anger in several quarters, reminiscent of the event of last year END SARS protest that lead to several fatalities and lost of lives in the hands of supposed military force. This incidence has remained inked in the hearts of Nigerians especially the youths who now see the nation as a blood thirsty land, and a damage beyond repair. But should we continue in this way?

In my opinion, the problems bedeviled our nation Nigeria is not entirely in the hand of the government. The citizens have contributed to the degeneration of our nation. We have all allow greed to blindfold us all. We have abused our collective national pride and destroy the spirit of brotherhood. If we truly want solutions to the many problems facing Nigeria, we should first stop the blame game and look inward. All hands are needed to save the country from the hands of a few wicked individuals who are sponsors of these evils in the land.

We should join hands with our administration in any little way we can to control these issues and to help the country in these trying times. We have no other country, Nigeria is ours, together we can change the narratives of our country for a better tomorrow. As a law-abiding citizen of your country, it is your entitlement to oppose any act of injustice in your locality and stand for peace. Consequently, your little contribution to national peace will be of help to our administration in discovering answers to address the situations on the ground.

The youths were said to be the leaders of tommorow, and I believe that tommorow they talk about is now. But how can the youths lead when we are not prepared? And , the time that we have to prepare in silence we use it to fight each other, causing ourselves on social media. The Igbo man says it's the Fulani, the Fulani says it's the Yoruba, the Yoruba says it's the Calabar, the name calling continue and at the end we all come back to sit at the feet of those bad leaders we all said they are the problem of the country, and allow ourselves to be use by them again and again, because to them the youths are not serious and cannot be given the leadership Mantle. Let them lead themselves first they say!

This is where we must all look inward, we have tried to change the government by force but failed because they have the power. Now, let use our intellectual properties to change the government. Those who canvassed the freedom of the nation from the hands of the European didn't do so with force power but with intellectual capacities, and they were youths.

I look forward to a better Nigeria. Let love lead. Peace.

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3 years ago

Comments

The similarities you face in Nigeria to South Africa are shocking. I feel as though we still have some level of safety here, but I can assure you our Pizza also comes before the ambulance will...and sometimes the police don't even bother to turn up. One of my friends who used to be in the police (retired now) was telling me there is a woman police officer who joined and she didn't even know how to drive the police van - it took her half an hour to reverse out of a parking. How on earth can you give someone a firearm to "protect and serve" and she doesn't even know how to drive?

I hope your dream for Nigeria comes true, Africa is the most beautiful place in the world, but those in power are the ones we need to focus on removing from power - the citizens need to stand up at some point. I'm afraid of the bloodshed that will happen because thousands will die, but I am also prepared to fight for my family's freedom. Our elections are happening on 1 November, I just hope that everyone gets out and votes the idiots in charge out, it will at least be a start to getting the country on track.

I am so sorry for the loss of lives and pain that is happening for the people in your country, nobody deserves to be forced to live through such bad things. Thank you for raising awareness about it, nobody in the media talks about the TRUE struggles of the people, they only portray Nigeria the way they want to - not the way that it is.

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3 years ago

It saddens me to read about the situation that you suffer. You accurately described the main cause of all your ills. Greed.

I could tell you about my country and I would find many similarities, but we are not raining in the wet.

So we urgently need to change from within if we want things to improve. I'll be honest with you, I don't have much hope for collective action.

As a man of faith, I am confident that everything will change soon. The change must come from us and in ourselves.

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3 years ago

I have read the whole article and I must say that the situation in your country is very similar to that of Venezuela, the country to which I belong. I only hope that the situations in our countries will improve soon and that there will be justice for all. I wish you the best for you and your family. Best regards.

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3 years ago

Nigeria will be great again because a new breed is here

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3 years ago

True, these people control the army and other security agencies, taking them by force won't help us, because they won't hesitate to shot anyone down, but by intellectual capacity, we can take over power from these old people.

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3 years ago

We are praying for a better nigeria someday and I hope it comes because the issue in Nigeria is getting worse on a daily basis. I pray God help us

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3 years ago

And the midst of all these sagas, the old & power holding ones have started warming up to enthrone themselves in the upcoming general election. So bad, everything seems it doesn't affect them. No remosefulness or contribution to curb the issue we are facngy. So bad💔

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3 years ago

The problem is that the youths will still be the one to vote for them massively

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3 years ago

That's the biggest challenge. You know the power of rice and money, hahah. I was among those that conducted election 2019, I saw Wonders, even the people that vouched not to for the opposite people ended up doing it joy 💔

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3 years ago

As much as Nigeria elites and leaders are to blame for the state of the nation, the masses ought to take the most share. We clap to this people and their evils as long as it benefits us, but remember they are wrong when it pains us. For example, on the issue of corruption, majority of the masses are as if not more corrupt than our leaders

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3 years ago

You are right on point, when you tell people this, especially the youths they look at you as the enemy Nigeria.

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3 years ago

In your country that's the problem. While to our country is about the election lol. I just hope that your country will overcome this situation 🙏

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3 years ago

Oh yeah, we pray for a better government that we save the situation.

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3 years ago

I lost hope in Nigeria, our greedy elders are not ready to let go of the power because they are obsessed with having the country's wealth only to themselves.

A lot of people have lost their lives in the fight for a better Nigeria, the shooting last year was done to create fear in the heart of the youths. They didn't know it would only make them stronger.

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3 years ago

It really is sad to read that a pizza delivery man arrives first than an ambulance. Unfortunately there is corruption everywhere. I hope that at some point the situation improves. 🙏

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3 years ago

That's our hope too with the coming election, the people should be able to chose right.

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3 years ago

Nigeria is a country where our government has failed the citizen, the make the country a hell for us.

A country where real criminal move freely and the just are being punished. They don't care about what the citizens are going through, imagine the government of a country killing it's own citizen by their hands, isn't that a serious case.

Some time I just think why I'm I a citizen of Nigeria, but God cannot make mistake, I'm still hoping for a better Nigeria, but it will rather be a blind hope if the Government still remain the same thing.

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3 years ago

If the government is failed, that doesn't mean you should fail yourself. We must right the wrong by a collective will to be a better person each day and that we do by being self dependent.

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3 years ago

I just took a deep breath after reading This, you're right . We have to play out parts too, and I pray may God help us. Amen

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3 years ago

The youths are prepared, but the oldies are not ready to leave seat for the you g fresh blood who are capable. Although, there are some youths who are still in supports of those who are corrupting this country.

How will the government feel if they turn themselves to be like the commoners? How would they feel if the table should turn around? This is what they supposed to be thinking of.

The country is ours and.we just need to join hands together to bring it into the better country we once dreamt of. Nigeria shall be better o my if we join hands together to eradicate corruptions..

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3 years ago

Who voted the oldies into power? You know the answer already, and again the youths will still vote them again and again.

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3 years ago