madridsta007: My name is Nigeria !!! I need Re-Building and not Re-Branding.

In the next few hours, am going to spend 10 billion Naira to celebrate my 52nd birthday! I am Nigeria !!!.

I am divided into 36 unequal states, plus my capital territory, christened ABUJA . I have millions of acres of arable land and billions of cubic litres of water, but I cannot feed myself. So I spend $1 billion to import rice and another $2 billion to import milk. I produce rice, but don't eat it. I have 60 million cattle but no milk. I have the capacity to feed the whole of Africa but I import most food instead.

I am hungry, please help and re-build me.

I drive the latest cars in the world but have no roads, neither can I boast of manufacturing a bicycle's tyre. I lose family and friends everyday on my roads for which funds have been allocated to build and rehabilitate but the fund has been looted. I lose my young, my old, and my most brainy and productive people to the potholes, craters and crevasses they travel on everyday. I am in permanent mourning, please re-build me.

My school has no teacher and my classroom has no roof. I take lecture notes through the window and live with 15 others in a single room. All my professors have gone abroad, some of the rest are awaiting visas. Those that remain, depend on money raked from the sales of hand-outs to students. My students receive lectures for a maximum of 3 months in a year due to lecturers' strike or students' boycott of lectures because of lack of better condition of service and deplorable condition on campus. That explains why I have university graduates, who are semi- illiterates.
I want a future, please re-build me.

Malaria, typhoid and many other preventable diseases send me to hospitals which have no doctors, no medicines and no electric power. So my wife gives birth by candle light and surgery is performed by quacks. All the nurses have gone abroad and the rest are also waiting to go. I have the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world and future generations are dying before me.
I am hopeless, hapless and helpless, please re-build me.

I wanted change so I stood all day long to cast my vote. But even before I could vote, the results had been announced. When I dared to speak out, silence was enthroned by bullets. My rulers are my oppressors, and my policemen are my terrors. I am ruled by men in mufti, but I am not a democracy. I have no verve, no vote, no voice, please re-build me.

I have over 50 million youths with no jobs, no present and no future. So my sons in the North have become street urchins and their brothers in the South have become militants. My nephews die of thirst in the Sahara and their cousins drown in the waters of the Mediterranean . My daughters walk the streets of Lagos , Abuja and Port Harcourt , while their sisters parade the streets of Rome and Amsterdam. I am inconsolable, please re-build me.

My people cannot sleep at night and cannot relax by day. They cannot use ATM machines, nor use cheques. My children sleep through the staccato of AK 47's, see through the mist of tear gas, while we all inhale Carbon Monoxide, poisonous CO-2 from popular 'I better pass my neighbour' (portable generators) and 'Okada' (motorbike taxis) The leaders have looted everything on ground and below. They walk the land with haughty strides and fly the skies with private jets (28 of which were bought in the last 12 months). They have stolen the future of generations yet unborn and have money they cannot spend in several lifetimes, but their brothers die of hunger. I want justice, please re-build me.

I can produce anything, but import everything. So my toothpick is made in China; my toothpaste is made in South Africa; my salt is made in Ghana; my butter is made in Ireland; my milk is made in Holland; my shoe is made in Italy; my vegetable oil is made in Malaysia; my biscuit is made in Indonesia; my chocolate is made in Turkey and my table water made in France. My taste is far-flung and foreign. I no longer cook at home but take pride in eating at take-away outlets fashioned after the Western style of living.
Anything made in my land is inferior; I prefer those made in England, America or Europe . To crown it all, items made in my land but specifically sent abroad with made in England labels are brought back from 'Oyinbo' land at 5 times the original price it would have gone for had it been sold as home made, please re-brand me.

My people are cancerous from the greed of their friends who bleach palm oil with chemicals; my children died because they drank 'My Pikin' with NAFDAC numbers; my poor die because kerosene explodes in their faces; my land is dead because all the trees have been cut down; flood kills my people yearly because the drainage is clogged; my fish are dead because the oil companies dump waste in my rivers; my communities are vanishing into the huge yawns of gully erosion, and nothing is being done. My livelihood is in jeopardy, and I am in the uttermost depths of despondence, please re-build me.

I have genuine leather but choose to eat it.. So I spend a billion dollars to import fake leather. I have four (4) refineries, but prefer to import fuel, so I waste more billions to import petrol and diesel. I have no security in my country, but would rather send troops to keep the peace in another man's land. I have 160 dams, but cannot get water to drink, so I buy 'pure' water that broils my inwards. I have a million children waiting to enter universities, but my ivory dungeons can only take a tenth (10 %). I have no power (electricity) , but choose to flare gas, and vote billion of dollars every year to generate electricity but not a single watt has come from it. So, my people have learnt to see in the dark and stare at
the glare of naked flares. I have no direction, please re-build me.

My people pray to God every morning and every night, but commit every crime known to man because re-branded identities will never alter the tunes of inbred rhythms. Just as the drums of heritage heralds the frenzied jingles, remember - the Nigerian soul can only be Nigerian - fighting free from the cold embrace of a government that has no spring, no sense, no shame. So we watch the possessed, frenzied dance, drenched in silent tears as freedom is locked up in democracy's empty cellars. I need guidance, please re-build me.

But then, why can I not simply be me, without being re-branded?
Or does my complexion cloud the colour of my character?
Does my location limit the lengths of my liberty?
Does the spirit of my conviction shackle my soul?
Does my mien maim the mine of my mind?
And is this life worth re-branding?
Is it re-branding that I need or complete re-building?

Others blame my calamities on the colonial master that has left my shore some 51 years ago. Without deceiving myself, I know I have problems, who will deliver me? May be what I need is to be re-born, Christians call it being born-again. Turning to a higher authority or changing direction. I mean to sincerely own up and turn to the man up-stairs, may be, just maybe solution will come from there.

To re-build a wobbling structure, there is need for dismantling of existing one (remember, if the foundation can be destroyed, what can the
righteous do?).. Shall I then consider the idea muted by some of my own who have fled abroad?
Some call for 'Separation for Co-operation' , others call for true Federalism - while others are yet asking for the return to Parliamentary system.
Which way do I go? on October 1, 2009, I celebrated my 50th birthday and my 52nd is just around the corner, barely less than 2 weeks.
I do not want to carry on in my golden age without direction, ... so, please, help me God. Re-mould and Re-Build me.

PLEASE PRAY PERSISTENTLY FOR NIGERIA!!!!

Nigera@52 has done greatly.. Surviving the civil war, coming out of several years of military misrule to a democratic dispensation and our still coexistence despite many intrigues to distabilise her entity are worth applauding. I won't join the fray of comparison. Be it with Singapore or any other nation. The course and destiny of nations varies and the factors enhancing and militating against individual nations are not same across boards. In as much as I agree that the nation ought to have made more progress at this stage of her existence, I must also acknowledge that we are not where we used to be 13 years ago.. Democracy is advancing, electorate awareness and electoral system cleansing is increasing, the economy is gradually growing, a lot of reforms are ongoing, corruption is on the decline( cross checks your facts, just recently the Transp intl commented on the countries drive to fight this menace as second to the US), more people are learning to understand how to draw the line between religion and reality so I foresee more tolerance and peaceful coexistence etc... You may choose to believe anything about the country but in my little assessment, there is hope and the framework for a greater economic emancipation

ehie: I worked with a foreign company that came here to invest,they provided Jobs,paid their tax and in all respect,did their part in developing the Nigerian economy,should I tell you about the running battles they had with the Immigration,even when their papers were all in order,constant harrasment,intimidation bodering on blackmlail for legimate bussiness..was it the police,that saw Oyibo as white skin vomitting money,was it area boys that hounded them or was their own workers who would steal from them constantly.or was it the thousands they spent on NEPA...i wondered how long they managed to survive with so much working against them

miss 9ja:

Wђɑ̤̥̈̊† induction dues lol.....I'm stil reading comments, I'm already enjoying †ђξ site, so many intelligent people in here. Hmmmmmm.

ehie: beautiful...sums everything up,
am saving the writeup

berem: did you say so many intelligent people? Well its left for you to find out! I hope the tribal bigotry won't scare you sha! Also try other sections like romance and family. There you will see very intelligent chicks! Welcome to NL.

miss 9ja:

Lol U̶̲̥̅̊ re begining Ť☺ scare ♍ε̲̣̣̣̥ already sis. Who re these tribal bigotry U̶̲̥̅̊ mentioned above? Romance section? Hmmmm lemme ♍ε̲̣̣̣̥ check it out first sis, wi brb soon

berem: bros you too much joor! Na only you talk wetin dey my mind! Abeg make I relax dey read una comments jare!

Billyonaire: If we have up to 10 million people with your mentality in Nigeria, we will not go anywhere at 100. Because, people like you pay no tax, contributes nothing ideologically to help augment the status of Nigeria's social and economic status except for tribal upper-cuts and blind criticism. Faith, hope and positivism cost nothing, but you still cant afford them. If I ask you just one suggestion you have for the Presidency to help improve Nigeria, I am sure you will keep the blame game on and on and on, now you descend on me with jabs about my person instead of the discourse on thread. I guess I just paid you back in your very 1naira coin.

shymexx: Hmmmm... I'm in a good mood today, and I won't sound too pessimistic... With that being said, when I look at Nigeria - I see a country struggling for an identity, with disenfranchised citizens, corrupt elites, and a country where money rules everything...

However, Nigeria has come a long way, and despite its obvious failures/underachievements - it has its own achievements, no matter how meagre they might be...

- Nigeria went from having a less than 20% literate population 1960 - to about 80% in 2012(should have been higher if not for the North)... However, it can be argued that Northerners are literate in Islamic education as well, no matter how we look at it...
- Bringing stability to Liberia, Gambia, Guined Bissau, South Sudan, and Sierra Leone - is definitely an achievement...
- Nigerian music and entertainment industry has overachieved...
- A Nigerian company suppling internet access to millions of Nigerians/West Africans is an achievement...
- Nigeria has an alright banking system for African standards...
- The surge in the Nigerian middleclass is an achievement of some sort, if we compare it with what's attainable in the declining middleclass in most western countries...
- Nigerians have a high purchasing power/raw cash compared to most African countries...
- Lastly, we've come a long way from independence(when the whole country was RURAL) - to what we've got now...

Nigeria needs a lot of improvements, though...

ehie: beautiful...sums everything up,
am saving the writeup

Donalð Genes: Omoge! See how peeps just dey throwe grammar as if them high or somethng? Na waooooooo

paulo007:
Continue to live a life of deceit

juman: One nigeria is the root of our problem.

Okija_juju: [b] Nigeria @ 52 We have achieved so much in 52 years.. We as a country have stayed together despite our clear and ever present differences.. We survived a civil war that sought to tear us apart, we overcame military rule that had held us bound and captive for years.. Many people may see the bads but on this occasion of our independence, I have chosen to focus on the good.. In 13 years of democracy, we have moved a great distance from where we were under military rule.. Today its clear that the military is gone for good.. Nigeria @ 52, I see hope.. A bright future on the horizon.. A greater tomorrow. I see this country returning to the glory days once more.. I donsee Boko haram.. In a country of 158 million people, they are so minor, they are insignificant.. I believe in Nigeria now more than ever.. All our present problems are the fire we have to survive to get to where we want..

Happy Independence to all patriotic Nigerians around the world.. Rome wasn't built in a day.. In the end, we shall overcome.. [/b]

Godogwu: Nigeria is 52 tomorrow and so we should not have any problems what so ever? Please don't be so gullible....every country had issues of theirs at 52 and still have issues at whatever age they are now. Then again, power has been improving, new and better roads have been built, education is thriving, economy is growing etc.....people should understand that everyone in Nigeria can't boast of success; that is very impossible....some people suffer, some smile and some are very happy, that generally how the world is. I'm forever proud of my country at 52 "Nigeria, great people, great nation"

Mr.T Anonymous:
1.At least Bishop Oyedepo can boast of 4 private jets
2.At least we are the most populous country in Africa and also among the first six poverty stricken country in Nigeria.
3.At least we have the richest man in Africa who uses our money to enrich his so called company.
4.At least,PHCN is one of the best in putting a whole town into a plucking darkness for at least 3months.
5.At least,we don clock 52,many no even clock 40.

Okija_juju: [b] Nigeria @ 52 We have achieved so much in 52 years.. We as a country have stayed together despite our clear and ever present differences.. We survived a civil war that sought to tear us apart, we overcame military rule that had held us bound and captive for years.. Many people may see the bads but on this occasion of our independence, I have chosen to focus on the good.. In 13 years of democracy, we have moved a great distance from where we were under military rule.. Today its clear that the military is gone for good.. Nigeria @ 52, I see hope.. A bright future on the horizon.. A greater tomorrow. I see this country returning to the glory days once more.. I donsee Boko haram.. In a country of 158 million people, they are so minor, they are insignificant.. I believe in Nigeria now more than ever.. All our present problems are the fire we have to survive to get to where we want..

Happy Independence to all patriotic Nigerians around the world.. Rome wasn't built in a day.. In the end, we shall overcome.. [/b]

safarigirl: I like your spirit. Nigeria is a young country? Do you know Singapore and Nigeria got independence the same time? Nigeria can't stand next to Singapore anywhere despite our being with loads of natural resources. Corruption, overpopulation, laziness, tribalism, nepotism, waiting for God to solve things as little as who we should TOAST! and most importantly FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN has seriously hampered whatever little progress we could have had. On the plus side, we have the Koko master, 2 face, Wizkid, Nneka, P square, Basketmouth, Genevieve Nnaji, Pete Edochie, and our wild population has helped us win BBA 3 times in a row, Naija to bad gan!