My country, a land blessed with milk and honey, a place where we all love each other at a point, my country is the best at a point, and people rushed in just to have a taste of what it has to offer. We all love our countries, the food, the culture, the people, the spirit. But love doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to the problems faced by the citizens. Sometimes, love pushes us to hope, to speak, and to dream of a better version of our homeland.
My country is a land of talented youth, diversity, strength, and undeniable potential. But like many other Nigerians reading this, there are things I deeply wish I could change, not out of hate, but because I believe we can be better, NO, I know we can do better.
The first thing I would change is our leadership. For many years, corruption has eaten deep into our system, so deep that it has damaged our economy, weakened institutions, and shattered the hopes of millions. The country is so corrupt that the corruption has een transfered to the grassroot.
This has cause many young people into fraudulent activities and other illegal means to make money. The truth is that, many people don't want to get involve in this fraud, it is not even a reflection of their character, but since the system have consistently fails to support them and this has driven them into fraudulent act. If I have the power, I would dismantle this cycle of exploitation the people in power have being doing to the masses and replace it with leadership that prioritizes integrity, transparency, and a genuine commitment to serving the people.
Secondly, what I would change is the ethnic hatred and division that silently (and sometimes loudly) exists among us. It breaks my heart to see how an Igbo man might distrust a Hausa man or how a Yoruba person might stereotype someone from another tribe. Recently, the tribal war amongst us in Nigeria is eating away at our unity, and this has caused many people to be fearful of living in another state that's not theirs.
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We often see ourselves first as tribe members before Nigerians, and this has led to countless misunderstandings, fights, bloodshed, and even affects our political opinion. What’s worse? Much of this hatred is fueled by those in power — the very people who should be uniting us. If I had the chance, I would remind every Nigerian that we are stronger together, that our differences are our strength, not our weakness.
Nigeria is not a lost cause — far from it. But we must be willing to confront these hard truths if we want true progress. I still believe in my country, and I hope one day these changes will not just be a wish but a reality.