Steemit Engagement Challenge || Likes and dislikes about my country Nigeria - 3 Rs and 3 Cs || by @jehoshua-shey

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My country is a home I am proud of, especially when on the international scene. Though this does not necessary mean that the country is the best or is flawless but it is home 🏠. In some areas, countries better others and some might be far below the pecking order in almost all areas, maybe even classed as an underdeveloped country but still, there's always something to love one's country for.

In this contest post, I detail three reasons I love my country and three things I would change if given the power.

AN OVERVIEW OF MY COUNTRY

I'm a Nigerian by nationality. I was born and still live in the country just as my parents. It's the only country I've ever been to and it's where I grew.

Nigeria is the largest country by population in the whole of Africa and the 7th largest in the entire world _src. Our national flag is a concatenation of three vertical stripes with the center colored white and the rest two colored green.

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The country is ruled by a democratically elected government and each tenure lasts four (4) years.

There's been a blood bath somewhere down history lane during the Nigerian🇳🇬 Civil war 🔥🔫💂 of 1967. There's also been a period when the regime was military 🪖. During those periods, the country had a fare share of military 🪖 coups and counter-coups which means that a lot of vendetta is still held amongst remnants of warring factions till today.

Major cities in Nigeria include

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_LAGOS

_ABUJA

_{PORT HARCOURT}

_KANO

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The country is made up of thirty-six states and a Federal Capital Territory. It is also divided into six geopolitical zones. Below the number of states are related to each zone

• North East (6 states)

• North West (7 states)

• North Central (6 states)

• South East (5 states)

• South West (6 states) and

• South South (6 states).

The Federal Capital Territory is found in the North Central zone but is not part of the six states.

THREE REASONS WHY I LIKE MY COUNTRY

1. OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT

First is the form of government we have - which is democracy. The government is elected by the electorates - every person up to eighteen years of age. This election is held within a four-year interval.

Because we have democracy, there's freedom of speech and there's the occasional termination of a regime after maximum of eight years. This form of government makes it possible for citizens to freely interact and express themselves within the concise of the law. It allows for oppositions so there's hardly the possibility of a full blown dictatorship.

Since 1999, we've had six general elections and four presidents all democratically elected. There's also the national and state house of assemblies as well as governors for each of the 36 states, all democratically elected.

Our form of government is made up of three arms - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. The executives are the governors, presidents, etc while the legislature are the law makers for both federal and state house of assemblies. These two are elected by the electorates. The judiciary includes the judges and they are appointed according to well organized judicial protocol except when there's some political interference.

_{Nigeria's National House of Assembly}

Our system of government has three tiers, federal, state and local government. Holders of offices in each of these tiers are usually elected or appointed by the highest executive office for the tier.

2. OUR SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Another reason I like my country is the records that exist against our name in the world of sports especially football.

Nigeria's men football team has won all three medals at the Olympic games, winning Gold🥇 in Atlanta 1996, Silver🥈 in Beijing 2008 and Bronze🥉 in Rio De Janeiro 2016.

_{Nigeria's men football team celebrates gold 🥇 in Atlanta 1996}

Nigeria's golden eaglets also has the most Fifa under-17 world cup trophies than any other country in the world (5). To add to this, only Nigeria and Brazil have ever won and defended a Fifa under-17 world cup title. Nigeria's golden eaglet won the competition when it was inaugurated in 1985 - then called under-16 championships. When it was renamed under-17 world cup in 2007, our golden eaglets also won it again. We also have titles from 2013, 2015 and 1993.

_{Nigeria's golden eaglets triumph in Chile 2015 Fifa under-17 world cup}

_{Fifa under-17 world cup winners}

Football in my country is not only for men. Nigeria's women national team won the first five editions of the African women cup of nations. The men's national team are three times winners of the male version of the continent's premier competition.

3. NATURAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

God indeed did not fail to bless the country Nigeria with surplus resources. Citizens of this country are scattered all over the world among the best in their professions.

Some of them like Anthony Joshua have become global household names following his boxing exploits. Israel Adesanya is another fighter who's at the top of his game and is currently the UFC middleweight champion as well as the second highest paid UFC fighter after Conor McGregor. Still in UFC, another Nigerian is the UFC welterweight champion - Kamaru Usman.

Asides beating people up, Nigerians have also excelled in other areas as well. The richest man in africa is a Nigerian and the nation boasts more in that top 10 list with Mike Adenuga coming 6th according to forbes

_{Africa's richest man - Aliko Dangote}

For natural resources, Nigeria has abundant oil and gas resources with proven gas reserves of about 187 tcf. There's also an abundance of solid metals including gold, lead, zinc, iron-ore, copper, coal, etc. The country holds about 3% of the worlds total gas reserves and is the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the Africa.

Currently, Nigeria has six liquefied natural gas trains which produces a combined 22 million tonnes of gas. A seventh train is under construction and will see the country increase it's liquefied natural gas production capacity to 30 million tonnes per year. It is important to note that the government originally planned for 12 trains.

THREE CHANGES I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IN MY COUNTRY

Below are the three changes I would love to make in my country.

1. ELECTION INCENTIVES AND VOTE BUYING

One of the wrong practices that has hampered our growth and threatened our existence as a country is the menace of election incentives and vote buying during elections.

Here in Nigeria, we see candidates donning out gives sums of money and people taking this money to in turn vote for those candidates.

We also see people come out to share some food items and other household items to electorates in the lower class all in a bid to incentivize them to cast their votes in their favor.

_{Election in Nigeria}

This has led to a lot of problems during and post elections. It has led to the wrong people being elected and consequently the wrong government being in power. Unfortunately, this same electorates that sold themselves during the elections suffer the fate of poor leadership for at least the next four years.

If given the power, I would inact laws that will seriously prohibit these activities with stringent punishment ranging from disqualifications to weightier punishments.

Should these menace be curbed, it will promote freer and faired elections and increase the likelihood of electing the right people in to power.

2. NEPOTISM

This has eaten deep into the fabrics of our civilization in Nigeria. Hardly is anything ever gotten on merit. A graduate with distinction is as good as an illiterate if they have no one who is highly placed in the society. This is true for more cases than none.

There's a saying among some folks in the country

Education is the key but corruption has changed the key lock

As a result of nepotism, qualified people are roaming the streets while the unqualified are occupying offices.

If given the power, I'll revisit certain laws governing or regulating various aspects of the nation. These include an outright prohibition of sentimental appointments in public offices with strict punishments attached. Nepotism is also going to be prohibited in our labor laws and prosecuted as well.

3. CRYPTO BAN

This to has to go away. Nigeria's Central Bank bans banks from facilitating crypto transactions, essentially limiting the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. This move doesn't appeal to me as an individual and I'm certain I'm not alone.

The SEC has not banned crypto though they suggested the younger generation of investors should channel their capital to the Nigerian stock market. Somebody like me won't try that for now.

The nation seems to not support crypto currency but she participated in the African Cup of Nations earlier this year which was sponsored by Binance. Asides from calling this hypocrisy, banning crypto is not the way forward. It only a country come late to the modernization of money and payments.

Instead of banning, I would increase efforts to develop the ability of the nation to effectively carry out crypto policing and also introduce appropriate regulations to ensure the privilege is not abused.

CONCLUSION

I'm very proud of my country Nigeria, we have abundant resources and highly talented individuals. Though not the finished product yet, the nation has a lot to be proud of including a democratic form of government, sporting achievements as well as investment opportunities occasioned by abundant resources.

I would however like to stamp out nepotism and election malpractices in the form of vote buying and election incentives. These contribute to the decadence our nation's leadership. I will also remove crypto restrictions and instead develope the nation's ability to crypto police. I would also set regulations to guide the use of cryptocurrencies.

Thanks for reading.

I would like to invite @jollybake @okorisamuel @chiwill @armstrongdiho @handel69 @bennethade to take part in this contest.