There's nothing I laid my hands upon that Nigeria has not done everything within her capacity to frustrate, including the efforts at aimed regularly posting this Daily Energiser to encourage fellow citizens of the world to be positive-minded.
I am a Nigerian and am contented to be because God does not make mistakes in whatever He does.
Nigeria is good, just as no single segment of planet world is itself bad because whatever God does is perfect. From my younger years till now, going to 53 years of age, I still continue to wonder if Nigeria is not the biblical land of Canaan which flows with milk and honey.
Every GOOD parent caters for their children at least so that the latter's lives can be better than the former. Good parents realise that life should unnegotiably be better for their off springs. So they endeavour to ensure that they take adequate care of them. by providing good food, shelter, education, medical care etc. More importantly good parents create an atmosphere of love that make their off springs feel like achieving their goals in life. In return their children love them too.
Like biological parents, every country is a parent to her citizens. The level of care that the country takes of her children will determine the level of love her citizens will reciprocally give back to it.
Many Nigerians are checking out of the country today not because they do not love their motherland but because their motherland has thrown them into the lion's den for the lions to feast upon. And these other countries are do so without looking back.
When I reflected about my own life, I surely know that God has continuously blessed me but Nigeria has treated me so callously that I sometimes feel that those who travelled abroad (even if to suffer) cannot be blamed. There's nothing I laid my hands upon that Nigeria has not done everything within her capacity to frustrate, including the efforts at aimed regularly posting this Daily Energiser to encourage fellow citizens of the world to be positive-minded. For a few days now, even though I have been subscribing to IPNX, Multilinks, Zain, MTN, Glo, STARCOMMS, O'Net, DOPC, and name all the notable internet service providers in Nigeria, all of them (except IPNX whose coverage is still scanty and which at least if only through communication, has tried to be different from the rest) have failed to deliver. Whereas, when I had opportunity to travel outside of Nigeria to the United States of America, my laptop picked up internet signals FREE throughout my stay there. While in the UK, I paid but for service rendered! Each time I look at the various useless but very expensive modems that adore all corners of my home and office, I regret being a Nigerian. Can I blame these companies? No doubt there may be human lapses here and here, but the environment in which these 'humans' work will make it at least partially unfair for me to tag them all as 'sinners'. If I had to power my tiny internet model with genset, how much more hardship do these service providers endure as they power their entire equipment throughout the country on the same generator!
Is it not a contradiction to say Nigeria is good and at the same time that it is bad? That's the irony of it all and it depends upon the angle one looks at it.
Looking at the land mass and all her rich endowments, Nigeria is an excellent country. But looking at her leadership and their style, it is a curse, not only to be a Nigerian, but to live and attempt to excel in Nigeria. Then how do I separate Nigeria from her visionless leaders since Nigeria is the mother that produces the bad children who are spoiling her reputation? What is the benefit of a country with abundant endowments which only impact they make upon her citizenry is POVERTY?
Let's digress a bit. What is the benefit of Nigeria to me if I earn N100 and N90 out of it is wasted on generating sets, high school fees, fighting mosquitoes, fixing vehicles made rickety simply because I lost two tyres at a go in a single error of running into a deep 'drum-hole' somewhere at Ilesha-Akure 'expressway'? And this happened beside the burial grounds of armed robbery victims a few years past!
Why do I need burglary in my house, in my street, and charms combined with the Bible+the Quran before I can move around and feel safe or close my eyes at night? Why should my Doctors recommend expensive drugs such as Lexotan, mogadon, ibuprofane, panadol, a daily dose of anti-bp tablets. Why do I need the combination of local herbs with orthodox medicines to combat a ever-resistant malaria? I think an average Nigeria consumes more of that 'toxin' or 'poison' called anti-biotics than they do multi-vitamins!
Why would the cost of procuring documentation for landed properties be equal to if not more than the cost of erecting a building under which to lay one's head? Why would an average person have to purchase land from two land-lords e.g. the customary owner and the government. Why would a government revoke a certificate of occupancy it genuinely issued by itself only to restore it at a fee?
The Bible says build your business first before building your home. What a wonderful revelation! But every business ever contemplated upon by an average Nigerian is killed either by PHCN or Government direct regulations that will make it impossible for it to run. How does one build a home with the yield of a failed business?
One thing I have been praying and hoping for is not only to be alive when Nigeria becomes a good country to live in, but also to enjoy it. I am looking forward to when Nigeria will turn from being a foe which she is today to a friend in need and in deed. If only before I expire, I can witness and be part of their beneficiaries, then I would die happy!
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Want to Know the details of what Nigeria has contributed to my life? Please go straight to Chapter 36 of my autobiography titled "Better Tomorrow"
