October 1 : Does 57 look good on Nigeria?

A land of great resources, a land birthing talents and greatness, a land upheld by God despite her flaws. Blessed beyond measure, a land of heroes and intellectuals coupled with rogues.
Nigeria at 57, how far? Its not wrong to say Nigeria has improved in some areas especially infrastructures although we are not there yet. Looking at some of the states of Nigeria there have been more industrial constructions, roads and bridges although  some roads are still left unattended to. Federal government declared recently that our economy has improved and government has been able to keep Nigeria as 1, no major wars against all odds, well that is an achievement in a way but some situations have not changed.

Nigeria has remained a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market, with expanding manufacturing, financial, service, communications and entertainment sectors. For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US dollar is exchanged at 1 USD to within 314.27  to 350 Nigerian Naira as of 2017.

We still incure debts , importing crude oil into the country and striving to sell it at subsidized rates when we can develop our own refineries.  We are also still selfish and inconsiderate as 85 percent of our oil blocks are owned by notherners and there is still struggle over the remaining 15percent.  We are still at a far cry from equity and inflation is still on parade.
Due to inflation, per capita GDP today remains lower than in 1960 when Nigeria declared independence and about 33% of the population still lives on less than 500 naira  per day.
The socio-economic quagmire being experienced by Nigerians, has undermined many aspirations, dampened the spirits of many and made them feel less as Nigerians.
Lack of social amenities such as water and electricity, costly fuel, and lack of money have jointly exacerbate bearable condition and made people crazy and desperate in Nigeria.

In the recent data on corruption released by NBS, Nigerians stressed that after high cost of living and unemployment, corruption is third most important problem facing the country. What works in Nigeria? No good roads, hospitals are bad and this accounts for Mr. President’s medical tourism, Education is comatose and ASUU  still goes on strike fighting for the ruling class to release money for public education and not their pockets  alone
 Families are facing terrible moments as many breadwinners can not get bread for themselves let alone for their families.  Organisations are laying off workers. Over 29million Nigerians are unemployed increasing the rate of the jobless to about 14.2 percent.


But  political office holders, seem to have all they need and still manipulate the minds of the masses to actualise their goals. Some have started preparing for 2019 elections, preparibg to announce promises they can not keep. We cannot pretend that things are totally right in this land at the moment. But we know that this land will soar higher as always. We know that this land will stand tall as always. We know that the labours of our heroes past will not be in vain. We believe in this land,

This land is NIGERIA, the giant of Africa! Happy birthday Nigeria.