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When I was young, I have heard of different stories of how my country looks like in the past, from my parents, elders and others who were very much older than me, I sometimes wished I was in existence then. Unlike we have it now when everything is turning upside down.

If I should ask many youths now of their dream country or where they would wish to settle down in life, I bet 70% will pick Nigeria. I am one of that 70 percent and if someone is to ask me why, I will give the same answers, most people will also give, no hope, no better opportunities, no security.

What intrigue me most were the benefits they were enjoying back then and those privileges that was open to many then, but they are no more now. I heard of bursary allowance for students then, free foods and toiletries, free scholarships, and many other opportunities that was available for students that are no where to be found again. That time even if you will pay for school fees, it will be very low amount. There were not private universities in existence then, many opportunities were opened to both the less privileged, an average family as well as rich families.

There used to be Price Control Board created by the government to monitor and regulate prices of goods to check inflations and exorbitant prices. Traders cannot hike prices anyhow and they are been managed securely.

There was nothing like armed robbery and kidnappings untill after the civil war when armes got into the hands of bad boys. They used to be under control then, nonetheless they were not rampant like we have it now that the crime rate is going higher than we could ever think of. Insecurity has become rampant nowadays, to travel by road has a high risk.

Gaining admission into University was easy then, no bargaining of any kind, once you have reach the cut off mark for your choice of course, then you are good to go. It's disheartening to know that even if you have reach the cut off mark, there is no quality assurance that you will be admitted, myself and many others have become a victim of this circumstance because we know nobody from the higher authority who can work things out for us, I spent some years at home when I wanted to gain admission to the almighty "Great Ife" despite the fact that I scored higher than the cut off I was never offered any course, I had to try again until I was finally admitted. Many people have been in my shoes while some were forced to go for whatever that was given to them even though it's not their choice because gaining admission is now hard.

I read a funny comment on the social media about the issue of ASUU last week, the guy in question was lamenting about the issue on ground, for the past four months he had remained at home, he noted that some State Universities have decided to pull out of the strike unlike Federal University "......United we stand, divided we beg" 😂😂😂 I don't really know why I find this funny, though it's not the lecturers fault but his statement is very much correct.

Promotions was based on merit then, not as we have it now where different factors are now been considered, political factors, religious and many other. Although there was struggle then, but the struggle was real, things were not as bad as this then.

Well, with the little I enjoyed when I was young, I am able to say that things are not as it is, I remembered as article @Olasquare wrote about some products he had missed, they were very much available in our days but they are no more. Why? It's not as if there products were bad then, it's just non availability of resources to produce them, those that manage to keep their products since then are not as good as those ones we enjoyed in the past.

We all hope for that better days, when things were rosy, when things were pleasant and comfortable, everyone could sleep in peace, travel in peace and do things with ease. When the struggle was real, when the green land will be back, and the "giant" will be back to being a "giant"

I truly hope there will be a better future for Nigeria. I am looking forward to that day, when we will soar high like an eagle, our name will be known throughout the corners of the world, foreigners will find their solace in our abode. And we will be United.

Thank you for reading ♥️♥️♥️