Nigeria
Nigeria is located in Africa. It’s on the left side, in the middle of the curve/corner. Its outer edge borders the South Atlantic Ocean and it is surrounded by four other countries of Africa. It’s broken into 36 different states, like the U.S. Its National capital is, Abuja. The largest city is, Lagos, which has a population much greater than Greensboro, NC. According to online research, Nigeria has a population of 162,470,737 people. North Carolina only has about 10 million so that’s a huge difference in people. Nigeria seems to be fairly diverse as far as languages, religion and ethnicity go. The official language is English. It has three major languages, which are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. There are also lots of other languages spoken, they include Edo, Efik, Fulani, Idoma, Ijaw, Kanuri, Itsekiri, Urhobo-Isoko, Igala, Igbira, Nupe, Ibibio, Gwari, Tiv, Birom, Margi, Jukun and Katab. If you live in Nigeria, you are a Nigerian. There are a few major ethnic groups but they don’t really have a real definition of ethnicity other than someone just living there. The three major ones are Hausa-Fulani, Ibo and Yoruba. Religion is kind of the same as ethnicity; there is no country wide religion. About 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslim and practice Muslim traditions, 40 percent are Christian, and the other 10 percent are said to practice the African Traditional Religion. Nigerians commit very strongly to their religion but they also still remember their tribal affiliations and practices.
Two major issues that catch my attention about Nigeria are poverty and corruption. Poverty is a big issue because people have stopped getting educated because they cannot find jobs in their degrees once they graduate which is leading to them not getting the money they need to live off of. The unemployment rate is very high. About 50-60 percent of Nigerians live in poverty. Lots of people have gotten into scamming and fraud as a way to make money. It is known as the 419 business. Corruption is another thing that stands out to me. They have a very weak government system, which causes some of the poverty. They lack knowledge about managing funds properly and have unstable politics. Also, something else that caught my attention was the health issues they have. The rate of HIV/AIDS is very high. About 5 million people die from it each year and there are lots of children that have lost both parents to it.
If I ever get the chance to travel to Nigeria there are a few places I would like to see. I would like to visit Lagos just for the experience of going to such a busy city, and because it has many tourist attractions, but, I don’t think I would want to visit for too long because it seems like it would just be too busy for me to enjoy. I think the crowded streets, the noise and crime rate would be overwhelming for me. I would like to visit the beaches of Lagos though. I would like to visit Abuja, because it is the first African made capital city. I would like to go see the Zuma Rock, also known as the “Gateway to Abuja”, because it is located at the edge of the city. I would especially like to visit, Yankari National Park. I would love to see all the wildlife there, go on a tour of the park to see everything, and also the Wikki Warm Spring. The spring is a crystal clear lake that stays about 87 degrees all year. I would really love to travel anywhere in Nigeria to see a different country and culture,