Nigeria @ 53 I luv Nigeria,but at times, Nigeria is an unusual place to be. It has been described as the worst place for one to be a mother, an indictment on her high maternal mortality rate and poor ante-natal care. Her high child mortality rate is also legendary as Nigeria’s under- five children still die of preventable child-killer diseases. To Transparency International, Nigeria is one of the most corrupt nations in the world. Our anti- graft war is never meant to fight corruption. Most times, it is used to fight political opponents. This giant of Africa is among the leading crude-oil exporting countries in the world, yet petroleum products are imported. Her citizens often experience petrol and kerosene scarcity, especially during major festive periods like Christmas and Easter. Its major refineries are not working. All efforts to build new cost- effective modular refineries are aborted by the so- called cabals. Nigeria is an oil-rich country with plenty poor citizens who live below one US dollar per day and where electricity supply is so epileptic and a luxury. Ten percent of Nigerians are believed to be super rich while over 70 percent live under excruciating poverty. There are more private jets in the country than commercial airlines. Despite these man-made and avoidable contradictions of our daily existence, Nigerians have been described as the happiest people in the world. That rating is still being contested. How can Nigerians be the happiest people on earth in the face of glaring socio-economic inequities and deprivations? How can Nigerians be the happiest people on earth with kidnapping, armed banditry and now Boko Haram insurgency? Though Niger Delta militancy has been brought under control through Amnesty programme, they can still make a surprise comeback if things don’t go their way. Nigeria houses pockets of separatist agitators like MASSOB, OPC, AREWA YOUTHS and others, yet we are seen as the happiest people on earth. That claim is false and is hereby rejected. Nigerians are also seen as a very religious people. This fact can hardly be contested in that Africans are by nature very religious. Before the coming of Arabs and Europeans, most African lives were guided by indigenous religious practices. The ancestor worship is common in Africa hence the multiplicity of gods and shrines. But since the advent of Christianity, there is religion on every Nigerian street and we tend to carry our religiousity on the face with little of it in our mind. We have richer clergy and poorer congregation,HAPPY INDEPENDENT DAY.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 10:03:06 +0000
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