MY NIGERIA; WHAT IT MEANS TO ME

THE ESTEEMED VALUE OF NIGERIA IN THE HEART OF A YOUNG NIGERIAN

Nigeria is an amalgam of ancient kingdoms, Caliphates and city states
with a long history of organized societies. Its boundaries were drawn
as result of trade (from slavery to pepper or ivory) and overseas
territorial ambitions of Western European powers in the 19th century.
The name Nigeria was adopted in 1898 to designate the British
Protectorates on the River Niger. Nigeria is a great country with
distinctively great symbols. For example, it has the coat of arms
which has descriptive elements: A red eagle that depicts Nigeria’s
strength, a black shield that signifies the fortuitous qualities of
the land in agricultural, mineral and solid resources with a Y-shaped
silver coloured wavy band in the middle of the coat of arms black
shield that represents the two major rivers in the country; River
Niger and River Benue, lastly it has two white horses that symbolizes
dignity. Another enigma Nigeria possesses that makes it stand out
proudly among nations is the adorable Nigeria Flag painted green,
white and green; white vertical stripe which is sandwiched between two
green stripes of equal dimensions. The white stripe denotes peace and
unity and is also symbolic of the Niger River bisecting the
countryside. The green stripes just like the black shield of the Coat
of Arms that signifies the fortuitous qualities of the land in
agricultural excellence, also signifies Nigeria’s prowess in
agriculture.
After a brief but crystal description of a great nation called
Nigeria, it is expedient I elaborate on what my perception of Nigeria
is. In all my years on earth, I have come to realize one thing among
so many others; no country is as blessed as the Nigeria I was born
into. Nigeria; the giant and pride of Africa, a nation standing tall
and strong with people who swim and ride in a state of unity even in
diversity. A country with the heart of a lion and the strength of an
eagle; soaring beyond limits and limitations. Nigeria, a home for all
irrespective of skin colour where racism is not only unheard of but
also a taboo. She is a land flowing with milk and honey where every
man and woman, young and old have the chance to make a better living
for their respective selves provided they possess a positive mindset
even in the midst of seeming failures and apparent drag backs and are
willing to work hard and diligently. She is a country blessed by the
Almighty above with the best weather found among nations of the world
with minimal or even no occurrences in some places of natural
disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, landslides and a host of others
ravaging other nations. As a mother cuddles and with love fondles her
young with the kind of love that never dwindles, Nigeria holds up her
citizens with opportunities that better their personalities, a place
with adorable cultural heritages and ethnic beauty. I was born into a
nation that implanted a notion of being a hardened place to live in
for any man. Happenings around me made me sicken and sink in in tirade
of thoughts that I couldn’t make anything out of my life in Nigeria.
Then after carrying this impression or rather put misconception for
about fourteen years of my life, I suddenly realized that what a thing
means to you would determine how you would always see it, attack it or
sit complacently and watch it attack you. Then I decided to give my
Nigeria a new definition and I rebranded it as “A Land of
Possibilities For Thinkers with Belief and Positivism.” Nigeria might
be hard for the common man to live in but one thing Nigerians forget
is that no one is content with being a common man. Every man wants to
be influential and affluent but they choose to see themselves as the
“common” ones to be fed by those they think are described as powerful,
forgetting that power is a product of your attitude towards its
acquisition. Yes of course, Nigeria is filled with corruption,
insecurity and others but if so many citizens of the said Nigeria can
make it under unfavourable conditions, nothing should hamper any
Nigerian from living a successful and exotic life except of course
what he or she has made his or her choice of what Nigeria means.
Nigeria is truly a land of possibilities but only for those that sees
it as that.
In conclusion, I would love to say that Nigeria might not be rosy and
completely smooth as some other foreign nations but one thing we must
all realize as Nigerians is that every nation has her unique crisis
that makes them envy other nations. But if they can admire their own
nations as they are and work towards building such nations to where
they expect, why can’t we Nigerians follow suit? No one can build the
Nigeria we so desire desperately for us but we the owners, others can
only come and exploit the richness of our blessed land. It all starts
and ends with our mindset; what Nigeria means to you because abuse is
inevitable when the true worth of a thing is not known. You cannot
work hard to build a legacy on what means little nothing to you. We
can only build Nigeria with a positive optimistic mindset that would
be a driving force to doing the building. On the other hand, we can
also pull down both the toils and suffering of past heroes and the
present continuous work of Nigerians by negative pessimistic
perceptions towards Nigeria. So dear readers why don’t you ask
yourself today, “what does Nigeria mean to me?” The trip to a greater
Nigeria might just be starting with what your deep sincere answer is.
GOD bless Nigeria and the rest of the world. Nigeria; One People,
Great Nation.
Tunde El StunnaOgundare.