Hello, everyone.
I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learners featured post. In a country like mine, every day comes with one drama or the other; some days come with more than one drama. There is not a day in this country that we are not either sad about something, but we are rarely happy about anything. Living in this country is like fighting a handicap match; the country will always want to put you at a disadvantage at every given opportunity. A lot has happened from the end of last year to this current time, but I don't think any really made the people happy, but lately those in power have come out to prove openly that they are there for themselves and their generations to come and not for the people.
The fact that our leaders are greedy and all want something for themselves without putting the masses into consideration has caused the country to experience more bad things happening than actual good things because those who are only after self-interest will always put their interest first before that of any other person, and some don't even care if they hurt others in the process of securing their self-interest or not. In Nigeria, my country, we have had just a few leaders who have the interest of the masses at heart and more leaders who are only after self-interest and self-gain, which is one of the reasons we have experienced very little progress.
Not a lot of good things happen down here; we just try to make the best of our situation. Sometimes even when the good things happen, they feel like a rumor and are not always believed by all. One good thing that has happened in my country in recent times is the start of operation at the Dangote refinery that is being rumored about, though the government confirms that there are many social media accounts online saying otherwise, and at this point we don't know who to believe and who not to believe. In the case it is true, then I think the rate of unemployment will drop by a few percentages because over the years the rate of unemployment has been on the increase and the government has done nothing about it.
If the refinery is really functional, then at least a few jobless people, even graduates who are jobless, will be able to secure a job; even if it does not make them rich, at least they have something to put food on the table with. The unemployment rate drops, and also the poverty rate in the country also drops; the people are happy, and it's a win for the government even though the Dangote refinery is a private sector.
Like I said, we have so many bad things happening here and a few good ones. One of the many bad things that have happened here recently is the increase in taxes. A country that did not provide job opportunities for the people has made taxing the same people they failed to provide jobs for. Our tax rate went from being bearable for some people to being unbearable for them; in the space of a few months, we now have to pay tax for every transfer above 10,000 naira, and then we have the income tax. Sometimes I also feel there are other hidden charges because when I go through my transaction history, I see a continuous 35 naira debit that follows every transfer above 20,000 naira, and my friend also complains of the same thing. I cannot say where that is going to, but all I can say is that for a country with no job opportunities, the taxing is too much and it is outrageous.