As a child, I have always wondered why people seem to have lost hope in Nigeria, why they never try to do some things within their capacity to make the country a better place.
There are people who will confidently say they don’t have anything to do with education because they see no point to it. Whereas, education is a weapon to be used to change the world, promote peace and tranquility.
The common phrase, a peaceful country is a stable country, is an indisputable fact. Nelson Mandela said education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
According to Nelson Mandela education can change not only a country but the whole world because, it is a useful channel to reach out to everybody living in a country. Education given to young minds can go a long way in the growth and development of a country, creating awareness and enlightenment. This will further increase the number of young creative minds that go on to improve the educational, economic and financial state of the nation.
The Nigeria we envisage and hope for as children cannot be achieved without any work or determination, it cannot be achieved without skillful thinking, it cannot be achieved by mere words but, a refined thought which is one of the reasons, education will always be an important element to building the Nigeria we want.
The change expected in a country does not necessarily have to start with the government. In other words, it has to start with individuals, and this foundation lie in knowing our rights and responsibilities as citizens.
We want a Nigeria where the rights of both the old and young are protected without discrimination in education, religion, age, and economic status. A Nigeria where everyone is seen as one regardless of race, colour, ethnic group, religion or class. A Nigeria that lives up to its status as an independent country.
We want a Nigeria where gender discrimination is nonexistent. Gender discrimination has remained at the root of gender based violence which most states have had to battle with up till today.
The increase in injustice being done to many girl children by the society or community has brought about different activists voicing out to defend the female gender through conferences like the BEIJING conference in 1997, which came up with a plan that addresses twelve critical areas mostly pertaining to girls and women’s rights.
We want a Nigeria with good healthcare system, a Nigeria where healthcare system is working.
A Nigeria that encourages young medical personnel with innovations concerning the health sector, like invention of new medicines from our local medicinal plants and improve upon local medicines and manufacturing of such drugs. We have thousands of untapped health enhancing plants and herbs but, we have not taken time to examine them, classify them, improve them, package them as drugs andmake them available for our use. When we improve our healthcare in this manner, we strengthen our economy by engaging a lot of human and environmental resources through this industry.
We want a peaceful, secured and developed Nigeria where every man knows that his environment is conducive for the actualisation of his dreams. Yes, this is the Nigeria of our dream: a Nigeria we can boldly call our home. This is the Nigeria that we want, this is the Nigeria that we envisage. Long live Nigeria!
– Afuye Oyindamola Ruth writes from Ekiti State
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