St My views on my country Nigeria: The three Reasons and Changes I wanna see in my country

_{Nigerian Flag}

Introduction

The name of my country is Nigeria and its located on the Western side of the African continent. It is well known to harbour citizens who speak hundreds of different languages with English, Yoruba, Fulani, Hausa, Edo, Ibibio, and Tiv occupying the top most spoken languages in the country.

It is safe to say that over 50% of Nigerians speak English as their main language and their local languages.

International languages are not widely spoken but then they are taught in secondary schools, colleges, and universities.

As recent as 2022, the University of Abuja located in the nation's Capital, introduced the Korean Language into their curriculum to be taught to undergraduate students.

The Nigerian government is gradually recognizing International languages and has allowed them to be taught in schools and colleges.

That being said, there are various Reasons why I love my country and Changes I would make if allowed to do so.

My country is blessed with different natural resources which can be found across the 37 states in the country and if properly utilized can be used in a thousand and one positive way.

Three Reasons why I love my Country

The reasons why I love my country are;

Enormous Natural Resources

_{Image Source}

Earlier, I boasted of how Nigeria is richly blessed with natural resources and I was not wrong. They trade internationally in mostly industrial materials, iron ore, tin ore, limestone, coal, lead, zinc, columbite, marbles, bitumen, and tar sand.

World records show that Nigeria is among the massive manufacturer of columbite, 6th and 8th biggest producer of Tin and Crude oil & gas respectively.

Africa's richest man according to Forbes, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian, and on the 22nd of March, 2022 launched the Dangote Fertiliser Plant which was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari.

_{Dangote Fertiliser Plant}

This plant is aimed at producing fertilizer to help add nutrients to plants. This will in turn bring about plentiful farm produce that will eradicate hunger in recent times.

This is one step toward achieving agriculture and making it a mainstay since the land is richly blessed with natural resources suitable for planting crops and rearing animals.

This plant which sits in the former capital of Nigeria, Lagos is Africa’s largest granulated Urea fertilizer complex designed to manufacture up to 3 million metric tonnes per annum in the first stage.

With time, this product will be exported to other parts of the world. That is one of the reasons I love my country, distributing their natural resources to other parts of the world for their greater good.

National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme

The NYSC scheme was introduced on the 22nd of May 1973 to reform, reunite, and reassemble the country after the Nigerian Civil war that was fought between the Nigerian government headed by Late General Yakubu Gowon and the Secessionist state of Biafra now known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Late Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu from 6 July 1967 to 15 January 1970.

This scheme has been a blessing to the country and its indigenes. Aside from its main aim of being established, I love the scheme because, based on my observance, it brings different individuals from various diversities and languages together under one umbrella to operate as one.

During my inauguration as a youth corper in Abuja

These people ordinarily I would never have met randomly, this scheme brought them to me who would turn out to become lifelong friends.

Every youth that went through this scheme has one or two testimony to give. At the end of it all, we are awarded a certificate that we can use to apply for a job in any private or government establishment.

To crown it all, the government gives us a monthly stipend to motivate us throughout the service year...and who doesn't like the money?

Recreational Centres and Museums

One of the things I find fascinating is the recreational centres because I love to travel. I have visited several places such as;

• Jabi Lake and Park
  Location: Along Alex Ekwueme Way, Jabi, Abuja FCT Nigeria

• Port Harcourt Pleasure Park
  Location: Beside Bori Camp, Aba Road, Rivers State, Nigeria

At Port Harcourt Pleasure Park

• Garden City Amusement Park
  Location: Plot 41A Birabi Street, GRA Phase 1, Rumuadaolu Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria

• National War Museum
  Location: Umuahia, Nigeria

At National War Museum

• National Museum
  Location: Onikan, Lagos, Nigeria

These places I have visited helped me relax and think. I have not had the opportunity to visit a zoo but I will in due time.

What makes these recreational centres, zoos and museums different from an average one is that it doubles as tourist centres too which generate internal revenue for the country as well.

Three Changes I want to see in my Country

Three Changes I want to see in my Country are;

More Good Roads

The majority of roads located in the Eastern part of Nigeria are bad and unconducive but then it exists. I have witnessed countless accidents happen on the road that leads to my school and they gave me great concern.

One of the bad roads

Those I did not witness, led to the death of a few of my friends and college mates. We cannot keep losing young and vibrant youths who are left at the mercy of the bad roads and heavy duly tucks who still ply the road regularly.

Also, when it rains, the water forms water logs and pot fill holes. Unsuspecting travellers who are not used to the road at times get trapped in those holes causing unnecessary hold-ups and accidents.

I can't say about the roads in other parts of the country because I have not visited there yet and I can not say from an assumption point of view.

If this government affects this change, it beats the top list of what changes I want to see happen in the country. Truth be told, they do their best to repair the road but then when it rain, it breaks and makes it worse.

The problem is that whatever materials they use aren't strong enough to stand the test of time. What the government needs to do is to make provisions for good and durable materials for the roads.

Creation of Employment Opportunities

One thing my country lacks so much is employment opportunities. Each year, various universities, colleges and polytechnics graduate over 50,000 students and only 1% make it to the labour market comfortably.

The competition is both stiff and tough. There is no room to fit in the other 99% who don't make it and that is a great concern.

I want to see a change in my country where the government creates employment opportunities that can lift at least 30% of graduates who have completed their mandatory National Youth Service from their homes into the labour market.

This will help combat idleness and laziness in the youth. This opportunity should be made available to those that don't have anyone to put them in the labour market.

The scheme can come in any form and the idea should be sold to the youths alongside a motivation to push them.

For instance; If the government wants the youth to venture into entrepreneurship, they should make available loans or grants to fund the business with little or no interest attached.

No funds to further her business

Bad Image

There is this bad image that has been cast upon Nigerians and makes some of the citizens lose viable opportunities.

Social media especially has tagged Nigerians as one of the biggest scammers in the world and that's not good for our image. I want to see that change in the mentality of others that Nigerians are big tie scammers because not all of us are.

The little ones that successfully tarnished our image by scamming people have made it difficult for other people to trust us or want to work with us.

There is this saying that bad news travels fast and that's the case now. This change lies in the hand of the youths as we are the most hit and affected by all these social media tantrums.

Conclusion

I have come to terms that these changes, especially, cannot be effected immediately. It takes time and patience and while waiting for the major change to happen, I will in my little way, do all I can do to make Nigeria a better place.

Thank you for reading!