Oh, great country Nigeria!

“Nigeria we hail thee”, that was a line from the old Nigerian anthem which reminds me of what we were thought during our history lessons.

However, since we got our freedom from the colonial masters,  which our past, great and honest leaders fought for, we haven’t really been living up to the lines of our pledge which states that: “ To be faithful, loyal and honest”. After the death of great leaders like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and many others, since then, we haven’t really gotten any honest leader coming forth.

With all these kind of leaders who have ruled Nigeria in the past, it is a surprise to someone of my generation that Nigeria could be declared the third most corrupt country in “WORLD’. Therefore it is sad that our present leaders make promises that are yet to be fulfilled. There have been many electoral promises around security but insurgency is still on the rise, our borders are not properly secured, the missing Chibok girls’ are still held in captivity. Also poor electricity supply is a major problem. Sometimes, whenever my mum buys foodstuff, we have to run generator to power the freezer which requires fuel which is expensive. I am sure my family is not the only affected by this.

What baffles me most is the situation of fuel scarcity in a country. I still cannot understand that with all the money made from our main export, petroleum, we still lack many basic amenities like good roads, pipe borne water, to mention a few. Many people still live in abject poverty.

God has blessed this country richly with many resources which other countries desire but they don’t have. We must join hands and work in unity and peace. We shall progress.

Ikeolwapo Olubanjo is a SSS1 student at Lagos Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Surulere.