Of recent, it has become the fashion for some Nigerians to portray the country in bad light. Unlike our ancestors, we look at our country with a jaundiced eye. Too often we consider only the short comings, most of which are material.
However, Nigeria is a land of beauty, goodness and hope. Because of the goodness and beauty of Nigeria, one does not need to travel far to discover fascinating corners in each of her geo-political regions, villages, towns and cities. Tremendous strides have been made in recent years in the network of tourist information centers, where one can obtain help and advice on the facilities in every region.
Beautiful spots, historical monuments, festivals, village crafts, museums, parks, game reserve and caves, like the Ogbunike cave, can be seen with the minimum of effort and expense. The Ogbunike cave is what oversea visitors marvel at most and what most Nigerians take for granted.
The beauty of Nigeria lies in the towns and cities while the goodness lies in the villages with houses and huts of the “landed gentry” which are features of Africa scenes. The Nigerian weather is not bad either, but is changeable and unpredictable. If compared with many parts of the world, Nigeria’s climate is favourable; there are rarely extremes of cold or heat, rainfall is low in the north and high in the south.
Of all the African’s great cities, Abuja and Lagos appear to be the most magnetic. The two cities have everything, but Abuja is a more unique city. A city filled to capacity by workers during the day but relatively unoccupied at night.
Unfortunately, Nigeria is among the world’s poorest nations, despite all the money and human resources flowing and despite her acclaimed position of African’s largest economy. Human factors have made poverty and insecurity the order of the day in Nigeria.
Each day, a lot of people do not eat enough to satisfy their hunger. The responsibility for this lies with some of our leaders.
Rather than tackle the problem, some of our politicians continue to debate and maneuver without solution to the problem, thereby making the youths grow as jobless people, which unfortunately turns them into kidnappers and armed robbers while the politicians swim in billions of Naira.
Therefore, as the next general elections are around the corner, Nigerians need leaders that will change the life that they are living, the leaders that will make Nigerian workers happy; leaders that will bring readily available and affordable housing; leaders that will bring uniform salaries at both Federal and state levels; leaders that will drastically reduce unemployment; leaders that will bring down the cost of living; leaders that will bring good roads in the country; leaders that will bring steady supply of electricity and an end to incessant university strikes.
Fortunately, in spite of Nigeria’s political and economic problems, in spite of planning errors, Nigeria remains a happy, green and very pleasant land filled with pleasure-giving sights, sounds and scenery; a country that engenders love.
In short, once a man is tired of Nigeria, he is tired of life, for there is in Nigeria nearly all that God can give man. But more than most countries, Nigeria has been shaped and given character by the men and women who have been her citizens.
WRITTEN BY OGUGUA NWOBU