This blog episode is a fact sheet built on information obtained from Wikipedia. It is a tip of the great potentials of our noble nation Nigeria. The intent is to encourage a collective read of the facts contained in the article on Nigeria which can be found on Wikipedia.
The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was coined in the late 19th century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who later married Lord Lugard, a British colonial administrator.
History of activities within the demarcation known as Nigeria, dates as far back as before 1500
Land mass: 923,768 km2
Population estimate: 190,886,311
The population of Nigeria increased by 57 million from 1990 to 2008. This is a 60% growth rate in less than two decades. According to the United Nations, Nigeria has been undergoing explosive population growth and has one of the highest growth and fertility rates in the world. By their projections, Nigeria is one of eight countries expected to account collectively for half of the world’s total population increase in 2005–2050. By 2100 the UN estimates that the Nigerian population will be between 505 million and 1.03 billion people (middle estimate: 730 million). In 1950, Nigeria had only 33 million people
Languages: over 250 different languages
There are 521 languages that have been spoken in Nigeria; nine of them are now extinct
Cultural variety: Diverse
Nigeria has the third-largest youth population in the world, after India and China, with more than 90 million of its population under age 18.
Agriculture used to be the principal foreign exchange earner of Nigeria
In 2005 Nigeria had the highest rate of deforestation in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). That year, 12.2%, the equivalent of 11,089,000 hectares had been forested in the country. Between 1990 and 2000, Nigeria lost an average of 409,700 hectares of forest every year equal to an average annual deforestation rate of 2.38%. Between the years 1990 and 2005, in total Nigeria lost 35.7% of its forest cover, or around 6,145,000 hectares.
Tourism opportunities in the country can be found in all regions.
Nigerian citizens have authored many influential works of post-colonial literature in the English language. Nigeria’s best-known writers are Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature, and Chinua Achebe, best known for the novel Things Fall Apart (1958) and his controversial critique of Joseph Conrad.
Other Nigerian writers and poets who are well known internationally include John Pepper Clark, Ben Okri, Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta, Helon Habila, T. M. Aluko, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Daniel O. Fagunwa, Femi Osofisan and Ken Saro Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 by the military regime.
Nigeria has the second largest newspaper market in Africa (after Egypt) with an estimated circulation of several million copies daily in 2003.
Critically acclaimed writers of a younger generation include Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Chris Abani, Sefi Atta, Helon Habila, Helen Oyeyemi, Nnedi Okorafor, Kachi A. Ozumba, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, and Chika Unigwe.
Nigeria is the 12th largest producer of petroleum in the world and the 8th largest exporter, and has the 10th largest proven reserves
Nigeria has a total of 159 oil fields and 1,481 wells in operation according to the Department of Petroleum Resources
Nigeria has one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets in the world, major emerging market operators (like MTN, 9mobile, Airtel and Globacom) basing their largest and most profitable centres in the country
Nigeria also has a wide array of underexploited mineral resources which include natural gas, coal, bauxite, tantalite, gold, tin, iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead and zinc. Despite huge deposits of these natural resources, the mining industry in Nigeria is still in its infancy
In conclusion, it is evident that there is no justifiable reason (given the numerous opportunities open to our dear country) for the deplorable state of our Nation.
It would be rational for anyone to erroneously believe that collectively, we are indeed a very strange people; to have so much at our disposal, yet remain perpetually trapped in the abyss of underdevelopment.
My fellow countrymen, the profound reality of our mistakes are the simple reason for the currently precarious situation in Nigeria and there is every need for all of us to collectively act differently.
I am certain that if we were to replace the Nigerian population with those of any progressive nation, Nigeria would easily rank among the most developed nations on earth. Our problems are human oriented; pure and simple.
There is every need for a change in our character, and it must begin with the mind of each and every single citizen. We need to rest assured that our children and coming generations will hold us accountable in the future for our casual approach to the pertinent issues of today which go way beyond amassing untold wealth to the glory of our individual family names. We ought to have realized that this attitude cannot build a nation of any meaningful relevance.
Hopefully the strength of the message behind this post would wake up the dormant patriotic spirit of action that still lives in the heart of every single citizen that defines our great country Nigeria.
Arise O Compatriots…
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