Nigeria has some amazing places with deep historical stories. It is a country of great natural beauty, but there are also some places that are just plain scary. We also have a very
This is a collection of all posts on this blog with the tagline nigeria. The posts are related as the word nigeria is tagged on all of them
The United Nations defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years and about half of Nigerian population (over 53%) fall under the category of 0 – 19 (Statista.com). This makes Nigeria one of the countries with the youngest population in the world where she ranks 18th. Aside from this, the number of Nigerians who fall under the category of 20 – 59 are way more than those who are sixty and above. All in all, Nigeria has a young, bustling and energetic population and this is a super-power.
Anyone who is conversant with the kinds of conversation that Nigerians usually have about Nigeria, her challenges and the way forward will agree that we are prone to making comparisons between Nigeria and other nations making great strides in the 21st century; whether we are lamenting the failures and needless setbacks that we are dealing with or we are looking for solutions on how to get ahead and get better in making our nation great and our lives better.
Recently I was privy to a discussion that centred around some of the old-world policies and techniques that successive government administrations in Nigeria have often deployed in tackling challenges and growth needs that confront us. The generally favoured position is that trying to apply archaic socio-political and economic methods to latest realities had been a major hindrance to Nigeria’s development (apart from all the usual suspects, e.g corruption) in at least the last two decades .
Nigeria has a lot of challenges but Nigeria also has a lot of potential. In the last 10 to 12 years, it seems like the focus has been so much on our problems without giving it a balanced perspective with our wins, gains and potentials. In the recent years, this negative focus continues to gain momentum and so many people who had optimism and patriotism for Nigeria are beginning to catch this bug of pessimism.
It’s very easy as a citizen of a country like Nigeria, in fact, any country at all, to feel like one is insignificant and unimpactful in the scheme of things that are happening in the country. It is much easier to fall into this kind of thinking when you’re not a prominent person in the land or you’re not really at the helm of things like a top politician, a mover-and-shaker, or a top government official. The truth, however, is that it is ordinary citizens that keep any country going and their routine and seemingly ordinary activities are the heartbeat of the nation. That is, if the (majority of) citizens are doing what they ought to be doing.
Little people are intolerant, selfish and impatient. Wise people are calm, loving and understanding.- Maxime Lagacé
It’s been said that there can’t be peace without struggle and there can’t be change without some sacrifice. There’s truth in this but it’s not the whole truth neither is it the whole picture because even in struggle, it is more advantageous to struggle and wrestle with the things that have held us back in a state and environment of relative and abiding peace than to do it in chaos, violence and war