Nigeria my beloved country is indeed, in spite of all odds, a great country that is fast changing. I remember with nostalgia when as a teenager, things were not that hard and as bad as they are now. I used to buy goods with such units of currency as N5, N2, N1 and even 50 kobo. Those days, I used to buy chocolate, kulikuli, dankuwa (Hausa nuts), akara, banana cake, agidi jollof, diet pancake etc. In fact, as a boy or girl growing up those days, if you could not afford all these things, then you have to be on the begging side of your friends; that is by sitting on the lap of your friend in the bus while going or coming back from school.
These days, things have changed from those jolly good days to working extra hard for survival. Now you must either save very hard to meet up with things or engage in some nefarious activities to survive. Sadly enough, our great nation, Nigeria, is still dependent on western metropolitan capitalist countries 62 years after independence. Now, the question is: How long will it take us to be self- reliant and economically independent? Moreover, imagine the level of corruption, gangsterism, political violence, erratic and inadequate power supply, fraud, disease outbreak and so on, across the nation, particularly Rivers State.
Even graduates, unemployment has not helped matters. The cause of unemployment in Nigeria is the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the Nigeria educational system. Educational institutions have failed to produce standardised and qualified graduates that are designed to meet the needs of the Nigerian economy. Sometimes, the absence of sufficient information creates the status of being unemployed for some Nigerians. When numerous applications are received for all advertised vacancies, some of the applications are hardly attended to, hence no feedbacks are given.
Basically, boosting educational system in Nigeria is a challenge facing Nigeria today. Education is an essential tool for the eradication of ignorance and poverty in any country. Education is the process through which a person is taught better ways of doing something or living, thus education encompasses any form of learning which transforms and adds value to an individual’s life which should lead to the benefit of his / her family and the society at large. But the fact is that, our institutions of higher learning run courses  that can hardly lead to gainful employment after graduation.
Robertowan, who may be regarded as an environmental determinist believes that environmental conditions determine individual destinies and improves the lot of the individuals; any reformer must start with recreating the environment to favour the individual. The question is, how do we create the environment in our various institutions of higher learning to favour these individuals, bearing in mind that components of the environment or facilities in the environment make up the environment? However, it has become clear, that the number of students in Nigeria is growing more than the available educational facilities, hence, the shortage in infrastructure at the higher institution. This brings about economic backlash as many graduates are unemployed.
These unemployed graduates, in order to obey the natural law of survival, go into committing crimes to keep food on the table. Therefore, this goes a long way in slowing down government policy in tackling educational problems. Another problem is that of insecurity in Nigeria. Insecurity has become a huge burden on helpless citizens in the country. Many people have tried to proffer explanation as to the reason for it.  Some even align it with religion, hence, creating a notion that religion is an obstacle to development. For the past twelve years, citizens have witnessed a new form of violence in Nigeria, epitomised by bombings, mass killing, and untold destruction of property. These events occur largely in the northern part of the country with far-reaching consequences.
Tackling housing needs is also another challenge facing Nigerians. One of the basic needs of man is shelter. Every human in the world today needs shelter in order to have a decent living.  Unfortunately, suitable and adequate shelter seem to be the absolute right of the rich in the country, as majority of low class income earners who constitute the bulk of the population still see it as a mirage. Many citizens living in cities and urban areas actually live in ghettos and squalid accommodation. Even, rural dwellers lack basic amenities. Existing housing stock in Nigeria is so dismal despite claims by government in making efforts to solve the problems.
The question on the lips of many Nigerians now is: Which way Nigeria? And how can we contribute to make this great nation better? First, the way forward for Nigeria is that, government should urgently tackle the high rate of unemployment through a strong youth empowerment programme that will banish poverty and hunger. For this way, the youths, would be occupied with something meaningful rather than becoming tools in the hands of wicked politicians who are always bent on using them to fight for their own selfish purposes. Government should resuscitate the manufacturing industries and ensure that it is exhumed from the grave where it is. They should also confront the problems of erratic power supply as the general public is made to pay outrageous electric bills for power not enjoyed.
The scarcity of petroleum products, especially kerosene is a problem government should seriously tackle. Most people rely on kerosene for survival. Since the scarcity of kerosene, the price of the product has increased sharply, thus causing hardship on the masses. Government should develop more physical infrastructure, and also renovate dilapidated ones. The agricultural sector should be improved to create the desired job opportunities for the teeming unemployed Nigerians. The educational system also needs restructuring. The curriculum in our schools should also include skill acquisition courses, entrepreneurship and self development programmes. Deliberate efforts need to be made towards ensuring that a new enterprise culture is entrenched in the minds of citizens to reduce unemployment and the present craze for white collar jobs. It is then that Nigeria will be on the road to economic success.
Furthermore, the provisions of adequate shelter for citizenry can only be achieved when relevant agencies of government evolve better means of meeting the housing needs of Nigerians. Nevertheless, Nigeria remains a great nation that can be galvanised into even greater heights as other developed countries. All we need do is to emulate countries like Switzerland, India and Britain in good policy making and implementation. By the time this is done, Nigeria would have occupied a pride of place among the comity of nations.

By: Ibimina Banigo Anthony
Banigo writes from Port Harcourt.