Better Nigeria: Change We Can See

BY IPHIE MANUELZ
Being away from home for sometime, it was very easy to spot changes that have occurred over the time that I had been away, change that people who had experienced the process of this change take for granted. Change they say is the only thing that is constant, whether change is acceptable or not is up to the people affected by this change.

Being away from home, it was easy to notice the change that had taken place in Nigeria, especially in Abuja where I live, over the year that I had been away for. The changes were both good and bad, they impacted the life of Nigerians both negatively and positively. Now I am not here to talk about the negative changes that has occurred since I had been away, we all know them, I am here to talk about the positive changes I could see. Yes Nigeria is besieged with so many problems linked to corruption, but that doesn't mean we should be ungrateful for the little things that the government is getting right. There is nothing wrong with noticing and appreciating the government even though what they are doing is their duty.

I made it a priority to look out for positive change during my visit. The first positive change I noticed on the day I got into Nigeria was that the old domestic area of the local wing in the Lagos airport. It was wearing a new look, when I landed in Lagos in January 2012 for my trip to London, I can definitely tell you that it was in a sorry state. It had working conveyor belts now, there was no disruption of power. That was a good home coming gift I must admit, although the heat and bus ride from the international wing was trying to spoil this joy, I didn't let them.

Next leg of my journey was to my beloved city of Abuja where I noticed some changes too. First change I noticed was the Lugbe express way, on a good day the airport to my house would take atleast 25minutes, but include the Lugbe traffic jam and you had to leave your house 2hours ahead of time, this trip was made in under 25minutes.

The next thing I noticed was the light situation, it had certainly gotten better. Through out my stay, which lasted for almost a month the generator was turned on only twice, once for my aunt to iron her dress and the second time on the day I was leaving for me to print out my ticket, there was even light in one phase, just not on the phase with the printer. Now I am not saying they never took the light, they just never took the light long enough for the inverter's battery to run down and require the gen to be turned on.

If you live in Gwarimpa, you probably know that Gwarimpa houses run on borehole water. Well that is about to change, pipes have been laid for water distribution by the Water board in Gwarimpa, I am not sure when they would start suppling, but it can't be too far away anymore right?

If you drive in Abuja, you probably would have noticed my next observation, the street signs that sprung up all over town are a nice development if you ask me. These signs help maintain sanity on the road, I know I tried very hard to observe them. You must have also noticed how free Wuse market road is now right, thats one development I am sure a lot of Abujans are happy with, I know a lot of you that didn't even use to dare going to that area even if you were paid. In terms of road user regulations, I am very glad to say that when I went to renew my licence at the VIO, I was glad to see that the VIO official were doing a good job of ensuring that the people whose licences were renewed were worthy of being on the road. They are also slowly creating a massive data base, that in my opinion if maintained properly would be a good source of information for the police, drivers are ten printed before being allocated temporary licences, this fingerprints can help solve crime.

The last but not the least has to be my favourite observation during this visit. The Kubwa express road is just a beauty to drive, but the best part of driving on that road is driving on it at night when all the street light were turned on. For the fifteen minutes I was on it, I was transported out of Nigeria. The road had my cousin dancing between 120km/h and 140km/h, we went from Gwarimpa to Garki 2 in under 15 minutes, and no i am not encouraging speed. Funny that not everybody appreciates these roads, when my sister commented on a taxi driver that ran into a gutter, the driver of the taxi she was in went 'aunty na government fault, why them go make the road wide like this'. Really, the government does not give you road, you complain, they have given you road now, you are still complaining. *sigh* you can never win with people.

These were the little changes I can remember noticing while I was around. I am not saying Nigeria doesn't have problems, I am just saying appreciate the little that we have, while we fight for a better Nigeria. Like I always say, the change we want for Nigeria wouldn't just happen at once, it would be a gradual process, so let's start appreciating that change from now. And no I have never met GEJ or any of his cronies, neither am I looking for an appointment, I am just a Nigerian who is saying it as I see it.

I am sure you guys must have observed some positive change, please feel free to let us know through the comment section.