Steemit Engagement Challenge S2W2 | Steem4Nigeria Contest | No place like home: Tell us why you prefer your country to any other country by @omerenma

Hello my good friends. How are we all doing today? It feels great to join in week 2 of steemit engagement challenge.

I will be writing the contest of Steem4Nigeria that has the topic No place like home: Tell us why you prefer your country to any other country.

This is nice and interesting contest considering the fact that various countries have their beautiful and good sides. I am going to highlight these areas as I develop the contest theme.

I come from a country that many people always love to talk about and relate with in so many ways, NIGERIA.

This beautiful country was formed or became a country after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914. This will take its age to 108 years. Few years back, the centenary celebration was done by the then administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. It finally got its independence from British rule on October 1960.

It is a country of more than 280 million peoples, more than 520 languages and about 250 ethnic groups. She has a total number of 36 states with 774 local government areas. She operates a federal system of government that is divided into three tiers of government-

° Federal government

° State government

° Local government.

Major languages spoken by the major tribes are Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. However, English is being adopted as the Official language.

She is referred to as the country with the highest population in Africa as well as having the largest economy. Little wonder she is referred to as the giant of Africa.

Each level of government has 3 arms that acts as checks and balances amongst themselves. They are the:-

• The Executive arm

• The legislative arm and

• The Judiciary arm.

Nigeria have had several places within her as its capital territory. The first capital of Nigeria was Calabar. I know many do not know this fact, before it was moved to Lagos state and finally Abuja now.

There are so many states within Nigeria with great historical references Kaduna. Ibadan, Kano, Cross river and many others have their names in African World history. You will see more about this great country if you continue reading this post.

Some of the unique things about Nigeria are stated below.

Cultural Diversity

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Remember that at the beginning. I said that Nigeria have about 250 ethnic groups and more than 520 languages. This translates into cultural diversity. Each tribe or ethnic group no matter how small it is has its own unique culture. If you are opportuned to visit Nigeria , plan it to be during the Cross River cultural festival on December. This is just a little idea of how blessed we are with different cultures. These diversity is well displayed in our cultural dances, arts and music.

Diversity is our strength.

Abundance of Natural Resources

Nigeria is also blessed with so much mineral resources. Before and during the independence era, Nigeria was known as major exporters of cash crops like cocoa, palm oil, palm kernels, rubber, groundnut, rice, beans and many others.

In the northern part of Nigeria, we have places for sight seeing like the rice and groundnut pyramids.

These were sources of export revenue before the discovery of crude oil in many parts of southern Nigeria, which continues to be our major source of revenue down to this day.

Apart from crude oil, we also have large deposits of lime stones, gold, mercury, iron ore etc. Most of these mineral deposits are still untouched.

Human Resources

The country is also blessed with abundance of human resources. Nigerians are talented in every ramification. They are seen at the highest echelon of so many known corporations doing very well.

We are known for our talents in sports, music, arts, technology, comedy and so many other aspect of life. We are also known as husltlers. Never ashamed to do the right thing to take care of ourselves not relying on any one to take care of our needs.

It is this never die attitude that helps us progress even when things seems not to be working well.

Food

Just like our cultures vary so the food we have. We have mouth watering dishes prepared by various ethnic group based on their geographical locations.

For those at the riverine areas, you think of the fisherman soup, prepared basically with fresh fish from the river and other seafoods like prawn, crayfish, water snails, etc.

The west are proud of the Amala and Ewedu.
The south is known for their native Afang and Bitterleaf soup, as well as their Ugba(African oil bean) with stockfish taken down with palm wine. Hmmm. I feel like taking some now.

The good thing about our dishes is that they are purely natural. No mixture of compounds of any form. Really good for health.

Hospitality and Freedom

Nigerians are known for their hospitality. Despite the hard times we face on a daily basis, we still make room to be happy and show hospitality to people.

No matter how difficult things are, it does not take away our smiles and happiness. We easily adjust to changing circumstances to suit our way of life. There is always a reason to be happy if you are a Nigerian.

Nigeria is a free country for all, a person can decide to marry from anywhere, no one will approach you asking for this document or that which happens in so many foreign countries, especially when you are a foreigner.

We help our visitors to relax and I cannot remember a foreigner being stopped on the road and asked to provide his immigration papers. They are witnesses to that. You can see you have a lot of freedom to play around with if you mind your own business.

Nigeria is also known for her amazing entertainment industry which ranks first in Africa and among the first five in the world. Her film industry Nollywood, music and comedy industry are unique which many foreigners crave for.

We have an abundance of these talents and many of them have metaphormosed into world class actors and actresses, starring in Hollywood movies and winning awards too.

Which of the things mentioned above do you prefer your country for, over other countries?

Amongst all the things mentioned above I would like to re-emphasize the ones that distinguishes them from other countries.

^ The human Resources-

Nigeria is made up of vibrant and intelligent people. We can make something out of nothing. We are very hardworking and do not rely on the government for sustenance like most western countries do.

Little wonder that when a Nigerian travels out to place that have a more favourable economy, they thrive very well irrespective of the profession they choose. The sky would just be the beginning of their success.

^ The Food -

Nigerian foods are unique and very healthy. The beauty of our food is that it is natural and original. We love greens a lot and it is a major part of our delicacies.

Our foods are very good for the heart, helping us avoid certain heart diseases which are prevalent in so many places.

Even a Nigerian in diaspora would always want to take our food, no wonder it is very expensive since it can not be grown naturally there.

I will always go for our delicacy anytime anywhere.

^ Natural Resources-

We are blessed with so much natural resources that most countries of the world does not have.

We have all the raw materials we need to become the most developed country in the world. So many of them are still untapped while some areas just need to be revamped. These natural resources are key for the development of Nigeria, Africa and the world in general.

^ Hospitality and Entertainment-

Everyone in the world knows how vibrant Nigeria is in entertainment and hospitality. I would not trade this for any countries own.

No Place like home: If you eventually leave your country in search of greener pastures, would you be willing to come back because of your response in (3).

There is no place like home. The same applies to this my great country. I have seen so many leave Nigeria for greener pastures only to come and reestablish themselves in Nigeria.

Personally, Nigeria is my home, even if I move in search for greener pastures, my base would always be in Nigeria.

Where I am, I would definitely miss the food, hospitality, freedom and other points mentioned in question 3 that sets it apart from other countries.

Conclusion

Nigeria is a great country and a lovely place to be. She cannot be traded for another one. It is true she has teething problems but that is also peculiar to every country in the world.

Hopefully, some of this teething problems would be checked and resolved in the near future. Once that is done, everybody would want to come and live in Nigeria.

I invite @goodybest, @eliany and @ngoenyi to join in the contest.