When a country celebrates ten years of uninterrupted democracy and later fifty years freedom from imperialism and has little or nothing to show for it. That country really needs attention. That is the fate of our beloved country, Nigeria. A beautiful land with two great rivers; a land that flows with milk and honey; endowed with many natural gifts; but, still wallowing in abject poverty. A nation called GIANT OF AFRICA; but, still lagging behind some African countries in terms of everything (health, security, education, politics etc).
“Health”, they say, “is wealth”. If one is not healthy, how can such person think of acquiring wealth? Hospitals in Nigeria are facing different problems-be it semi-qualified personnels to lazy doctors, power failure, inadequate facilities and the list is endless. Things can’t keep going on this way. There was an incident I witnessed about two years ago in a hospital. It was raining heavily that morning. A man came into the hospital with a deep cut on his shoulder and some minor cuts behind his neck and the doctors were not around. His shirt was torn and used to tie the shoulder to reduce blood loss; his white singlet had become red. According to his story, he was on his way to his office when the rain started. He was standing in front of Skye Bank, Yaba branch for shelter when two guys attacked him. His phones and valuables were stolen. When the doctors finally arrived, they told him to get a police report before they can attend to him. It was not until the people there shouted them down before they attended to him. Doctors are expected to be on seat at all times and to the best of my knowledge, they should have shifts. You get to a hospital with a 7:00 appointment and the doctors will just be strolling in by 10:00.
It is said that “Educating a child is like a mark on the rock”. A child today is aleader tomorrow. The success of a country depends on how educated the youuths are. Public schools used to be better than private schools, but, that is not the case today. Some public schools dont have chairs in the classrooms and the students sit on the floor. In the good old days, once our parents were admitted, they knew when they would graduate, but now, it is either teachers’ strike or ASUU strike and these strike actions cripple the educational sector our great country. All universities in the country are meant to run the same academic calendar, but, this is not to be due to the incessant strikes. Little wonder our leaders take their childre out of the country to study. Anyway, the teachers/lecturers are not to be blamed because if their salaries are paid on time, they would work efficiently because they are the nation builders.
Agriculture used to be the main stay of Nigeria’s economy before the discovery of crude oil the aftermath of which agriculture was neglected. I am not saying crude oil should not be a major source of revenue but, total dependence on oil is not the best to our country. Agriculture is the pillar of a nation’s survival because a country can’t survive without food. Oh God, help our leaders to support the farmers.
All in all, we still thank the Almighty that we are still together as a nation despite our differences and not like some countries that are always having the problems of serial killings, suicide, obssession, depression and so on. Nigeria will be great one day.We need to tolerate ourselves and be patient with one another and Nigeria will one day become the Nigeria we all dream of, the Nigerian dream of our frist set of leaders. Rome was not built in a day. The America we all dream of did not develop immediately after independence. We need to be patriotic and opmistic. A pessimist is the one who says o is the last letter in zero, while an optimist says o is the first letter in opportunity. All is not lost. As long as we still have the fire of HOPE burning in us, tomorrow awaits. You will never hear a citizen of another country say, “my country is so corrupt, it can never be developed”, instead what you hear is GOD BLESS my country. So, GOD BLESS NIGERIA. Did I hear someone say a loud AMEN?
Quite inspirational. keep it up!
ReplyDelete