I am extremely sorry my brothers and sisters to inform you that the best decision I ever made in my life was to leave Nigeria. This should not be so but it is my reality.
If I hadn’t left Nigeria, I would not have realised that Nigeria is not a normal place for humans to reside. I would have still believed that Nigeria is a great country, as the crooks often inform us via the Nigerian state-sponsored media outfits.
I have visited over 40 countries including the Arab world. Everywhere I visit, it is often the same: clean, organised, calm, secured and functional. Exactly the way normal human beings should live their lives.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that good roads are no big deals? At the sight of a good road in Nigeria, we celebrate it. In other countries, nobody celebrates good roads because they are normal standards. The gulf states were deserts in the 70s. They were still travelling on camels in the 70s. Go there today. They have roads better than those in Europe and America.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that I do not have to spend a kobo to be seen by a doctor when I am sick. In Nigeria, I must buy an expensive card first (whether at a government or private hospital).
Nothing is working appropriately in Nigeria.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that mosquito bites (the source of malaria) are not normal events and should not be accepted.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that it is abnormal to buy meat and other food items infested by flies? The main source of Typhoid fever.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that there are places on this planet with 247 electricity and water supply all year round in every household. Even the desert of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar have 247 water supply in every home. Yet Nigeria is surrounded by water.
Landline telephones are still functional in many countries.
Even the NTA (the national television station of Nigeria) does not have good quality pictures. I used to believe that this was normal. Ordinary good TV pictures in the 21st century? Everything has refused to function properly in Nigeria.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that connection to the internet via wifi could be free. In Nigeria, I must buy data to access the internet. Access to the internet is no big deal at all in most countries.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that so many countries provide free healthcare and education to citizens. In the UK, my children don’t have to pay a kobo to go to school.
In Nigeria, we have over 30 million almajiris out of schools. These kids are going to grow up with no skills other than begging and violence. They are ticking time bombs waiting to explode in the next 20 years or so.
Nigeria has petroleum but no single functional refinery. Nigeria has petroleum but no good roads. Nigeria has petroleum but no electricity.
In Zamfara, there are just 14 medical doctors looking after every 14,000 persons. Every doctor want to leave Nigeria given the opportunity.
If I did not leave Nigeria, how could I have known that the non-payment of salaries for several months is illegal and unlawful. Even the poorest of the poor pay their workers. Nigeria is a cruel geographical space. Note that I referred to Nigeria as a geographical space and not a nation.
When some of us complain, they say we are third class abroad and washing plates for the white men. You see how suffering and smiling have damaged the psyche of an average Nigerian? Who told you that we are all washing plates abroad? Don’t you know that there are millions of black African medical doctors and other professionals in various parts of the world outside Nigeria?
In conclusion, someone like me would want to bring home everything that I am enjoying in other countries. Someone like me do not wish to hand over a failed state to my children. For these reasons, I will not stop complaining until Nigeria is totally restructured or dismantled.
Having seen so many other countries, I can confirm that the problem is nothing else but Nigeria itself.
Nigeria must be dismantled to free us to attain our highest potentials. We cannot remain the laughing stock of the world forever.
Those who still wish to remain in the dark are free to do so.
As for me and my family, we have chosen the restoration of Biafra where we shall hold responsible every public servant that steals public funds.
Dr Maduka C Ogwueleka