Nigerians Are Not Terrorists, Naij.com Guest Writer Says
Legit.ng's guest contributor Ikenna Egejuru, in his article titled Reorienting for moral rearmament, advices foreign citizens to cautiously perceive negative news about Nigeria, and his fellow Nigerians to try their best to portray their country in a positive light.
"This August, I urge you to be optimistic about our country because there's no place like home.
"The Federal Government has taken a great step by increasing the number of pages in our international passport to 64 so as to ameliorate the plight of regular air travellers.
"Since then, our FG has come under vituperation of the many who doubted the relevance of the increment to our battered image, with some accusing the immigration of extortion and ill treatment meted out to air travellers at the airport.
"We, as the people of Nigeria, must stop seeing all government policies as deceit. The duty of every citizen is to build on the progress his or her nation has made, not to destroy its achievements.
"Our sentiments and parochial views have been an impediment to our Transformation Agenda. Over-politicization of national matters has been a cog in the wheel of our development.
"To my dear foreigners who bask in the figment of what the media has fed: Not all that is said about Nigeria is true.
"We often hear about citizens of other countries using our international passports to perpetrate evil in these countries; this has resulted in you including is in your blacklist and tagging us terrorists.
"Nigerians are not terrorists! We are good people of a great nation.
"I would like you to know that Nigeria is a country with six geopolitical zones. The Boko Haram insurgency emanated from the North East zone of the country and has been plaguing that zone ever since.
"There are other zones that have been hospitable to you foreigners and where your business had thrived. The South East zone where we have the Ariaria Aba markets, the largest market in West Africa. And the South West zone where we have the Alaba international market, the largest electronics market in West Africa. And the Computer village where your computers, GSMs, and accessories are sold in large quantities.
"These markets are been saturated by your imported goods, thereby enlarging your economy and encouraging production. You didn't think of this before condemning all of us. Because of the obnoxious activities of a group of scoundrels of a particular zone out of the six zones which has no economic relevance to you.
"We, Nigerians are trying to develop in our own way, with Innocent Chukwuma of Innosson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM), Nnewi, producing first made-in-Nigeria cars by Nigerians. Amidst terrorists attacks, we still have attained the status of the largest economy in Africa. This shows that Nigerians are hardworking people, determined to achieve great heights. We don't deserve a bad name.
"And to my fellow Nigerians, home and abroad: I urge you to jettison all those characters, actions and inactions of yours capable of portraying Nigeria in a bad light.
"This August, it will augur well for you as you have decided to be positive minded.
"Be Wise 2015."
Mr. Egejuru wrote from Owerri, Imo State. Please remember to respect each other's opinions when commenting. If you wish to see your article published by Legit.ng, go through our guidelines for guest writers and contact us at info@naij.com.
Source: Legit.ng
