"Nigeria" My beloved Country!!!

My Country ‘Nigeria’

Nigeria is a country in West Africa, it is a nation with approximately one hundred and forty million people (140,000,000) “2006 National Population Census” Nigeria has an area of 923,768.00 sq. kilometres and lies between latitude 40 and 140 north of the equator and longitudes 30 and 140 East of the Greenwich meridian. This is entirely within the tropical zone. It is bounded on the West by the Republic of Benin on the North by the Republic of Niger and on the East by the Federal Republic of Cameroun. On the North-East border is Lake Chad while also extends into the Republic of Niger and Chad and touches the northernmost part of the Republic of Cameroun. On the South, the Nigerian coast- line is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean.

The relationship I have with my country is to be patriotic, I don’t have to ask what my country has done for me, I don’t have to wait for my country to do something for me, I don’t have to complain about what my country is doing for me. What I have to do is to contribute my own quota to the development of my country. First, by not sabotaging the efforts of the government of my country, & by showing I’m committed to development. Secondly, to hold the government to be accountable to us in the different public offices they are holding in other to achieve sustainable development.

I live and work in Nigeria as a social worker/development consultant to the federal government (office of the presidency on MDGs) and this has made my relationship with my country a cordial one especially in the grass root level where I use the platform of my organization also to care for the dire need and build the community as my responsibility to my country. Therefore, I teach people to believe in what and how to contribute to the development of the country rather than what the country will do for them.

My country is a country with highly motivated, hardworking and very intelligent people. It is a country that is rich in natural resources and manpower. Nigeria is a very peaceful country, despite the fact that we have over five hundred and twenty eight languages and people from diverse tribes and traditions, we still live peaceful without wars or conflicts, and we have unity in diversity. Another thing about my country is that my country is a wide market, meaning that there’s no business you do in my country that will not prosper.

One of the things I would love to change is the level and amount of importation that we do that constantly brings down our currency, we import virtually every single thing we use including the foods we eat and crude oil that we are blessed with. There is basically nothing we produce and this is also increasing the unemployment level of the Nigerian people, recent statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that about 10 million Nigerians were unemployed in Nigeria at March, 2009.

Change will come to Nigeria when we start focusing on building more manufacturing companies that will provide employment for the Nigerian people and the same time produce for export, this will help build the Nigerian Economy. Create more jobs to reduce unemployment, poverty and hunger. Empower especially the women and young people because I believe that when a youth is empowered, the nation is built.

Finally, I will like my Country to foster this ideology “LIVE & LET LIVE” rather than CORRUPTION.