Steemit Engagement Challenge | My Country, Nigeria: "The Three Rs and Three Cs" | by @fredquantum

It's a privilege to be joining yet another contest in the ongoing Steemit Engagement Challenge. I have joined some earlier this week and I would be writing another one at the Steem Pakistan community which is centered on the sharing of our views about our countries, themed " The Three Rs and Three Cs". Ride with me on this as I share with you about my country.

The country I will be talking about today, my precious origin is Nigeria. This is the most populous African nation and it's situated in the western part of the African continent. A country blessed with many natural resources. The governance practiced in this part of the world is Democratic, the reign that began when the military handed over governance to the elected civilian leader in the year 1999. Numerous political parties contest for the governance of the country.

There are 36 states in Nigeria governed by governors in each state, and other arms of government in the local government areas of each state. The flag of the country consists of three vertical sections with two colors, green and white, such that the flag is green, white, green where the green color represents natural wealth and the white represents peace and unity. There are a few other things to discuss in Nigeria but that's for some other day.

Now, it's time to talk about the three Rs of this great nation, Nigeria. These points would be the best reasons I have so much love for my country.

Nigeria is blessed with many natural resources, recall in my get to know my country section, I have described the green color of the flag as natural wealth, that's exactly what it is. Nigeria is naturally blessed with fertile lands, petroleum coal, iron ore, gold, limestone, and many other natural endowments. In most parts of Nigeria, farmers don't bother about using inorganic fertilizers on their plants as the lands are naturally fertile.

The most successful businesses in Nigeria have been agriculture and petroleum, products from these natural resources are monetized by selling here in the country and exported to other countries of the world. Whenever I look around and see these resources, I feel so good and feel we are lucky to have them. There are also many natural places of attractions in Nigeria like wildlife and waterfalls that one can visit to cool off.

Above are the pictures from a waterfall I visited earlier this year, this is a natural waterfall with seven levels, I have just captured the first level in the image above. At the last level, it is established that there is a village at the top, what a great work of nature. Tourists from all parts of the world come around to treasure these resources.

Another reason I love Nigeria is the rich culture, culture is well preserved in Nigeria. Our heritage is preserved for the generations to come. There is a constant exhibition of our heritage that tells the story about our origin, in fact, they are documented so that those who are not around when the whole event took place would have something to meet. The documentation is not only put down in writing but also drawn in form of acts that pass across solid message across to the audience.

Above is the picture of a drawn statue of one of the earliest forefathers of one of the tribes in Nigeria, the Yoruba tribe to be precise, a warrior and great king of the land which goes by the name Oranmiyan, you can check it on the search engine (like Google) and read more information about it. These things preserve our culture and tell the generations yet to be born how their lineage began.

In addition, civilization has not taken everything away from us, we preserve our culture of dressing. We have not totally neglected our mode of fashion to adopt others from another part of the world, as such, we still style ourselves our own way. Take a look at my picture below, that local clothing is called Agbada (An embroidered big shirt), Buba (Shirt), and Fila (Cap). We are rich in culture.

Despite the fact the country lacked many opportunities for the youths, we have a lot of brilliant and hardworking people here in the country. The citizens of Nigeria are very hardworking no matter what the condition may be, they are always giving their best, this is a great thing I love about my country's people. And this is not limited to a sector rather it spread across to so many sectors in the country and abroad where Nigerians are writing new stories with hard work.

People of Nigeria are very hardworking in the sense that, most times the policies from the government would be hard ones yet they don't stay down. For example, the minimum wage in Nigeria is very small yet the people put in more effort to obtain the best possible results for the establishment they are working for. In addition, many traders are determined to make their business successful regardless of unpleasant conditions. In short, Nigerians are highly hardworking and I love my people for that trait.

There are two sides to a story just as there are two sides to a coin. I have talked about the good side of the country earlier and at this point, I'd like to speak about the other side I'd like to see a change in.

The governance of Nigeria is not quite encouraging. Many people with good intentions to some extent have not been given the chance to participate in governance rather it evolves within a space of known people that have been in the government from many years ago. In the upper arms of the governance of Nigeria, enough chances have not been given to youths to be allowed to participate and these are the ones who have the knowledge of the modern innovations yet they don't have the opportunity to participate. I would like a change in that regard.

In addition, I highlighted in the first few paragraphs of this article that the governance practiced in this part of the world is democratic but the fact is that those leaders who ruled during the military regime are mostly the ones that got involved in politics again and started ruling as civilians rulers again. As such, the leadership of the nation keeps revolving within a space of some set of people. Take a look at the picture below.

The picture above shows how youths are rising through the creation of new political parties to ensure unity in the quest to participate in the governance of the nation to bring about innovations into the system of Nigeria. Diversity of governance is a good change I would like to see in Nigeria

Insecurity is one of the greatest challenges in Nigeria. As far as many years ago even when I was in high school, there have been a series of killings in Nigeria by a sect known to be against western education/girl child education. Numerous thousands of innocent Nigerians have been killed in the last few years by this sect, in fact, a lot of families have been displaced by the ever growing attacks on residents of Nigeria.

Now, we are experiencing another set of terrorists who are into the killing, kidnapping, and so on. The popular word they use for them is bandits as they have not been traced to any sect's name. These ones have killed many innocent souls and kidnapped a few demanding some kind of ransom. Recently, a train was attacked, the bandits shot a lot of Nigerians dead, notably, a young medical doctor was killed on the train 😭, a young lady who just resigned from her former job to relocate abroad.

The action of these bandits is forcing a lot of Nigerians with great potential to relocate abroad so that they don't fall a victim to such pathetic killings that happen every day. I would like to see a government and cabinet with great knowledge on how to handle this kind of situation and eradicate them permanently.

Despite having a lot of great natural resources, the economy of the nation still suffers a lot and some of the things that contribute to this are; Mismanagement, terrorism, greed and so on. Most of the cabinet of governments ruling in Nigeria have mounted the sit for their selfish interest without having the citizens' interest in mind, this is an act of greed and as such, they mismanaged the precious resources God has endowed on the country, with their greediness.

In addition, the rise in the cases of kidnappings in the country has hindered a lot of farmers from visiting farms to cultivate as such the natural resources are wasting away. The economy of Nigeria is falling apart gradually as Naira continues to lose its value against the US dollar, this is the same currency that was 1 USD = 0.55 NGN about 48 years ago according to history. The economy of Nigeria needs to be resurrected.

In conclusion, it's a great privilege to have been able to participate in this contest, it actually gave me the chance to write about my country Nigeria, giving a detailed account of the good side and the other side of the nation at large. Nigeria is a blessed land with many natural resources with rich culture but incapable governance, bandits activities, greediness, and so on, all contributing to the wasting away of the good resources. Thanks for reading my article today and I will like to invite @jeuco and @olabillions to participate.