It is the most populous country in Africa, the seventh most populous country in the world and the most populous black country on earth.
The country which is one-third larger than Texas, is situated on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Neighboring Benin, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. The lower course of it River flows south through the western part of the country into the Gulf of Guinea. Swamps and mangrove forests border the southern coast. There are over 250 ethnic groups and a coastline stretching over 800 miles. This country presents a mixture of traditions, a land of remarkable opportunities and warm, friendly people. A nation of about 160m people mostly Christians, Muslims and traditional animists and have co-existed for years, many times with adherents of these three religions being members of the same family. All groups of people have their languages, histories, and religions all rubbing shoulder to shoulder in this hectic, colourful and often volatile republic. The nation known for its abundant natural resources, a warm and healthy environment, its exotic cuisines, beautiful flowers and adventures. A remarkable nation with great history of men and women, known also for its wonderful beaches and wildlife. A country known for its food production with cash crops and many investment opportunities.
WELCOME TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
Nigeria as a nation, came into existence on the 1st Oct. 1960 having gained independence from the British colonial rule. Since then, it gradually began moving as an independent country experiencing civil war and many crisis, but it identity as one entity continued to be maintained. Nigerians now began ruling their own nation by themselves under the British laws which has ensured Nigeria transformed into what stands today as the giant of Africa, thanks to the labour of our past heros. Nigeria under this period had experienced many forms of leadership transferring from military to Civilian rule and continued going vice visa, until when democracy was well established in 1999. Has Nigeria achieved the desired goals any living nation will wants to achieve? All is now gone.
"We are no longer what we were, what is happening today is not in our character. The norms and values left by our founding fathers are no longer with us. Today, the institution of family has broken down. Respect for elders and constituted authority which used to be our cardinal principle is now at it lowest aim. Honesty while it does not pay has become meaningless. In short, there is meaningless in philosophy, insecurity in polity, chaos in politics, immorality in society, corruption in economy, frustration in art and lack of creativity in literature. This is not what Nigeria use to be as a whole, ours was a decent country whose leaders respect one another despite their political differences. Ours was a society that was morally sound, it was a society in which all of us were our brothers keepers. It is not the same as today". Yusuf Maitama Sule
From one of the richest and most promising 50 countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nigeria is today among the 20 countries in the world with the widest gap between the rich and the poor.
The nation has gradually declined in fortunes for its people to become among the poorest in the world.
As one of the world's top 10 crude oil producers, Nigeria currently fares very poorly in all development indices. Average annual percentage growth of GDP from 1990 -2000 was 2.4.
The Gross National Income, GNI, per capita is less than US $260; under-five mortality rate per 1,000 live births is 153; average maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births is 545; and life expectancy at birth is 48 years for males and 49 years for females.
Even as a signatory to the United Nations Millennium Declaration to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental stability, the Nigerian context and progress remains a real cause for concern. What a tragedy.
Nigeria as a nation has failed in all aspect of human endeavors. Nigeria being among the top exporters of Crude has failed to give it citizens the services that can improve their lives. The nation's economy is moving without magnitude neither direction. An economy that has Crude but import fuel, an economy that has Gas but lacks power, an economy that has arable land but imports food, an economy that has talented youth but lacks innovations, an economy that has minerals but lacks industries, an economy that has missions but lacks visions, an economy that has aims but lacks objectives, an economy that has human capital but lacks manpower, an economy that has goals but lacks target, an economy that has everything but lacks everything. I weep for my dear Nigeria. Our leaders have successfully hijacked the nation's wealth and transformed it into their personal belongings. Our government investments have been turned into family businesses. The labour of our past heros had already be in vain. Our nation amputated, our hopes crippled and our dreams shattered. What a disaster.
The amalgamated Nigeria had since been divided with every group trying to dominate and marginalise the other. The nation's dominant tribes have became enemies overnight, the two dominant religions are raging war against each other. Unity no longer exist unless within one ethnicity, ethnic violence had became daily training of killing people. The choices of the electorates has been revised by installing religion into national politics, Thanks to the hypocrisy of the fools of today. Nigeria only exist by name, but the people in it have long separated. The long nurtured brotherly hood by our founding fathers has now been submerged with Hausa being a brother to only Hausa, Igbo a brother to Igbo and Yoruba a brother to only Yoruba. The two regional parts of the country (north and South) exist as undeclared nations. What a barbarism.
Government which is responsible for protection of the citizenry's life and property have became angel of death, ordering security forces to take away people's lives and destroy their properties all in the name of fighting terrorism. Wherever you are heading to in Nigeria, your loved once's hearts and yours will be on the beat until your arrival with fears of been attack by hoodlums looking for money or government forces. Many unaccountable lives are lost every hour in Nigeria but the poor man's voice has never been had. Nigeria, a nation that can't call the actual figures of it citizens has lost a worrisome number of people in the current security lapses in the country. From Boko Haram in the North to oil bunkering and sea piracy in the Niger Delta, from kidnapping in the East to robbery in the West. There's no safe place for a common Nigerian to feel protected than going back to his village and wait for his killers to call. Life is fast becoming like a waste bin in Nigeria with all angles becoming hot for any bottom to sit on. Our oga at the top is cruising in bullet proof four wheel drives not minding what his electorates are going through. What a calamity.
Electricity is present in many parts of the country only in structures. Power which brings about development and services for the livelihood of any nation is becoming extinct. A nation blessed with abundant gas, sunlight and hydropower still clueless in providing power to it citizens, making them the highest user of electrical generating sets in the world. Our industries are endangered with less operation due to shortage of power outage and many have become warehouses for smugglers. Nigeria and it failed government officials are looting huge sum of money regularly all in the name of providing power. A nation whom it national power company rely on power generating sets as an alternative source of energy. What a failure.
Education is giving less or no priority as schools are all left vacant for a poor man's child while those in government have their children schooling in the most expensive schools overseas with modern educational facilities. The talented Nigerian child have left wasting in the hands of the so-called leaders that knows nobody but there sons and daughters. The Nigerian teachers are always struggling up and down to get another job as commercial taxi driving pays more than being a Nigerian tutor. The poor Nigerian youths have turned to criminals at a blink just to raise a token for food and their social demands. Our girls turned prostitutes giving out sex for money just to cater for themselves and their well-being. The unlucky child to be born in Nigeria will surely loose hope for a prosperous future. The high rate of maternal and child mortality is becoming uncontrollable with government not really serious about saving the life of a child. What a pity.
Our health care has since lost direction resulting into mass death of citizens with no medical care or facilities. Our hospitals will soon be commission as museums to preserve the ancients medical structures and equipments. The life of a common Nigerian who could not afford medical treatment abroad or in any private hospital will always be at risk. With an Infant Mortality Rate at 86/1000, Nigeria is ranked lower than war-ravaged countries like Iraq and Congo DR. Fifty two years after independence, exhibitions of poor development, consistent backdrops, especially at the Primary Healthcare level, with inadequate functional surveillance systems in tandem with the modern era are just a few of several flaws that punctuate fortunes of healthcare in the country today. Corruption has established itself and stand firm on the national health sector. Those at the top will travel to hospitals abroad just for a common headache or a single hit on the toe, all expenses will be covered up by government. What a waste.
In today's Nigeria, one of the Major Problems of Food Production is Poverty. On the other hand, one of the Simplest and a Doubtless Truth that you can easily Know about Nigeria is the fact that over 75% of Her Rural Dwellers are Full-time Farmers.
A very Great Variety of Delicious Species of Organic Foods, Fruits, Vegetables and Cash-crops abound in the Country. In fact, the Nation is so Highly Blessed, and there are very large Acres of Fertile Agricultural Lands all around the Country. One of the Most Serious of all the Major Problems of Food and Agriculture in Nigeria is Lack of Leadership, Mismanagements, Corruption and Embezzlements of Public Funds which are very common within Nigeria's Government Officials. And as you know, Patriotism; Trust, Honesty; Organization and Careful Management has often Led the Success and Prosperity of Modern Man.
But here in Nigeria, all you can easily see or notice is the Plain Fact the Nation has “ No Leaders ". What a tragedy.
Our braved men and women have became cowards overnight. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria increased to 23.90 percent in 2011 from 21.10 percent in 2010. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria is reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. Historically, from 2006 until 2011, Nigeria Unemployment Rate averaged 14.6 Percent reaching an all time high of 23.9 Percent in December of 2011 and a record low of 5.3 Percent in December of 2006. In Nigeria, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force. There is some evidence to suggest that the lack of economic opportunities for young people has created enough discontent to start wars that tear nations apart. Sierra Leone provides a possible example. Nigerian youths in the diaspora excel in all aspect of life, demonstrating how gifted the poor nigerian youths are. What a loss.
The all-embracing phenomenon called transportation is a measure of relationship between places. Transportation performs the role of linking supply and demand. As a means of conveying people, goods and information through places, the provision of transport facilities and services is very crucial to the economic, political, social and cultural life of any country or nation. Decaying infrastructure in transportation is one of the deficiencies that Nigeria’s National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) seeks to address. Score of lives are lost every day as a result of inadequacy of our nation's transport system. Nigeria is the only living nation operating without a transport policy or a master plan. What an embarrassment.
If Nigeria was truly a democratic nation, it will have since revolt against it leadership.
The only credit to Nigerian government is on the wonderful development our Capital Territory Abuja has attained. Which is now among the fastest developing cities in the world. Kudos to the effort of the men of yesterday.
Nigerian youths have made an alarming signal to the government to get on it toes or faces an uprising to regain their nation's lost values and history. One of the warning signal was the Occupy Nigeria protest, which is a socio-political protest movement that began in Nigeria on Monday, 2 January 2012 in response to the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government of President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday, 1 January 2012. Protests have taken place across the country, including in the cities of Kano, Ojota, Abuja, and at the Nigerian Embassy in London. At least 16 people have been killed in Nigeria, all shot dead by the Nigeria Police Force during the protest. The protests have been characterised by civil disobedience, civil resistance, strike actions, demonstrations and online activism. The use of social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook has been a prominent feature.
As of today, Occupy Nigeria had continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions. We are never relax to reclaimed our lost glories. What a remarkable experience.
It still is a mystery how the cost of subsidy shot up to 1.3 trillion naira in just one year of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, especially since ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration spent 300 billion Naira per year. When the Obasanjo government left power in 2007, the country was no longer in debt and the 30 billion dollar foreign debt that Obasanjo met when he came to power in 1999 was fully paid off. Today, under the administration of Jonathan, the country owes debt to the tune of 30 billion dollars and is still borrowing. What baffles me is that in the midst of these, the leadership had mischievously gone ahead to share some huge funds in the name of Excess Crude revenue when it should have stored it up for the coming year Foreign reserves that have been depleted from 80 billion dollars during the Obasanjo administration to 33 billion dollars under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
It was reported that when the Obasanjo administration left power in 2007, 23 billion dollars was left in the Excess Crude Account after he built it up from nothing in 1999; by January 2012 the account was empty because the money has been squandered and the account scrapped. What a transformation.
What we want is a leader, a true leader with all the qualities of leadership. A true leader who will lead by example, a leader whose leadership will transform the lives of all irrespective of tribes or religions. A leader who lead with philosophies of the herdsmen, the herdsmen who will sacrifice his life, his health and his comfort for his cattle. A political leader that will came into politics to serve but not to be served, to give but not to take. A leader whose philosophies could solve all the problems of Nigeria being political, economic and social. A leader whose leadership values will cut across tribal and religious boundaries. A leader who believed in the vision of responsibility. A leader who stated the problems of his own people and wants to solve those problems. A leader who will united all the tribes in Nigeria. A leadership where all Nigerians will not call their selves by their tribes but Nigerians.
FAREWELL THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
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