In every relationship, one hopes to receive just as much as one gives, a symbiotic relationship knows no war, this is the scale of balance on which the world stands. However, in the case of the African giant, Nigeria the black motherland, a land flowing with gold, coal, oil at its finest and even enough fertility of the ground to feed itself and its brothers and sisters far and near, however. instead of building relationships that would help her reputation as the African giant grow, Nigeria has chosen to be the candle giving light to everyone else, but leaving underneath it very own self in darkness.
This isn’t new, as this has been Nigeria’s love language from way back. the colonial era, independence and even post independence. we can see how over the years Nigeria has chosen it’s lovers and the repercussions of these relationships. it is a nation that has given herself to hopping from one toxic relationship to another, so, to give a list of her lovers, would be a long list we might not exhaust. however we can take a look at her specs and the kind of lovers she has been with over the years, some of their attribute includes
Brain Drains
This might not be a familiar word however the Oxford dictionary defines it as [ The migration of educated or talented people from less economically advanced areas to more economically advanced areas ] in other to sustain the development in these advanced areas. it is no news that Nigeria is a land blessed with intellects, academical and technical geniuses. however when Nigeria showcases these talents to the world, her so to say lovers then come up like a hawk in sight of a defenseless chick, and then pick up these brains taking them to their countries, developing them and then using them as tools in developing their own nation while the home nation of these individuals suffer in the dust, yet Nigeria has chosen her kind of lovers another feature of her lover is
Parasitic Relationship On The Exchange Market
According to the world bank, there are 81 developed countries in the world with GDP sufficient enough to sustain them, however of all these countries Nigeria found none to value her currency the Naira with, except the one that drains her value on a daily basis, instead of valuing your currency in comparison with other currencies that would give your currency some level of value, Nigeria chose to make importations from countries that would require you convert your currency to a far stronger one, the United States dollar which as a result drops the value of the naira crashing it’s own economy.
yet Nigeria has chosen her lover.
another feature of Nigeria’s relationship is
Feeding The Mouth That Bites Her
A significant percentage of the raw materials used in producing the products imported into Nigeria come from Nigeria. however the cost of products at importation still remain high. Nigeria has suffered a great deal when it comes to the international market.
a land blessed with crude oil, still suffer from the cost of oil and gas simply because she isn’t capable enough to run her own resources and relies on her so to say lovers to refine her resources for her. yet these lovers of hers see this as an opportunity to exploit her. collapsing her economy and leaving her in wreak.
The above are some of the features and effects of Nigeria’s relationship with her lovers, however there are still ways to mend the effects of Nigeria’s past relationships
1. Building new profitable relationships that would benefit her
2. Retracing her trade webs i.e carrying out international trades that would benefit her economy and currency
3. Setting up programs to appreciate and develop academic and technical geniuses in the nation
4. Giving members of the nation reasons to get rid of the “JAPA” mentality i.e wanting to run away from the country and migrate to a more advanced one
– Balogun Enoch
Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyigba, Kogi State.
