Nigerians in search of greener pastures

    During launch break my friend and I sat down to watch TV when a news cast about Nigeria came up, i cannot remember what is was about but i sure remember the conversation it spun out of us both, I think it when in the lines of the amount of money Nigeria loses because of the trouble in Niger Delta, then out of the blue an older man which i have seen before or might have seen but did not take notice of spoke " Nigeria is a beautiful country but it is one of the most corrupt country in the world". At that time the room erupted in laughter  and i tell you i have never been so ashamed in my life about the place i actually come from. I swallow whatever pride i have left and ask the man to tell me all he knows about the country, he then goes on to explain that in 1968 or 69 he was in Nigeria for some business and was struck with awe the size of the buildings not to mention the scope of the architecture. He mentioned the attention to detail  in the infrastructures he visited, the money lavished at the parties he attended also the value of the goods and commodities available to the Nigerian people; He being from another country racked with poverty, his final statement was that Nigeria was self made poor country and i believe him every last word of it.
Why you ask? I am about to explain it now, i am an 80s child so i do not claim to know much about the country but i know enough to make some conclusion on this matter, Nigeria has and probably will be continued to be ruled by corrupt leaders and bad governments , people only interested in lining there pocket rather restoring the country to her former greatness which she once was just take a look at the amount of money the country took in during the unfortunate incident in America ( hurricane kathrina  )   but tell me were all that billions of dollars went to nobody knows ; 60% of the country reportedly lives in poverty  and yet the country still pumps oil from the deltas .
     Have you guys who live outside her shores tried to call the people back home only to hey the busy tones because the country has no telphone line or the ones they have is too outdated for it to sustain a proper phone service, poor health facilities are the norm in a place money pours in and dont make start about employment issues; In fact i had pick up an issue of AFRICAN ABROAD-USA, one of the popular african news papers in the united states and on the cover page i read that about 20,000 aplicants showed up for only 25 positions available at the inter continental bank in Lagos, this is so sad to see the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria and to think we haave a government in place yet nothing is being done to curb the unemployment or even the creation of jobs. who will blame the other nigerian fortunate enough to leave the country in search of better living conditions and probably found on the shore of countries like america, united kingdom and gemany but what they fail to tell others is the trouble they go through just to get the visas that allows the access to these contries not to mention the amount money they spent in the process too. you also might not even hear of the treatments get get at the embassy of theses countries, well i heard it is inhumane and just downright disgusting. The journey never ends even when they arrive on the shore of these contries, now they have to start all over again begin to buy things to ensure their suvival that is if the have the money or a job that pays to purchase these things.
    Well like my friend said Nigerian are basically people who go to other countries to beg for what they already have but cannot keep it due to mismanagement .
which begs the question are we going to see a Nigeria with an ideal government, better education, health care with great economy, a Nigeria where her citizen would only look towards the north, south, east or west for the greener pastures they seek and not to foreign lands.
    Please post your comments and suggestions, no comment is to small or suggestion to great to acknowledge

Comments

[Kesiena]

First of this is a great site and the topic is interlectual. I do agree that the government is terribly corrupt, but i also believe the people should stand up for themselves. In nigeria you hear people complain alot about the economy but nobody will stand up for the economy. Nigeria is under deomocratic regime, that means the government by the people, but the people are not complaining not doing anything. Of course that does not relieve the elected officials their corruptnessand irresponsibility, but they need to called to attention by the PEOPLE. Someone should stand up and take charge, and when one stands all will stand.

[oloyede gbenga sayo]

it's great