Another Article from a would be Naija Times writer...let's know what you think?

Nigerian is Beautiful
By Olujoke Areola

Nigeria is actually beautiful

Why did I never see that before?

Everything is beautifully

green, brown, red and blue

Even the beggars tell a story

in the vibrant picture… Nigeria

Nigeria is beautiful!

Nigeria est très  belle!

Nigeria is beautiful, I hear gasps, I see double takes and shocked expressions on people’s faces whenever I assert this. The Nigerians that i talk to about the country’s beauty generally think that I either work for the government, that I’m oblivious, a mental case or in denial.

The truth is, I was pretty much as cynical as the rest, in the beginning and could honestly only see that, Nigeria was not Jand (United Kingdom) or Yankee (United States of America) and did not even look like the movies or the pictures of beauty that I had seen.

I mean remember some of the Independence Day, television adverts for campaigns, promotions and performances that we saw in the past and of-course that ‘oh so famous’ Andrew sketch with the wanting to ‘check out’ sound bite and catch phrase? I remember that those adverts generally seemed to show in their background waterfalls, trees and forest type scenery saying things like Nigeria’s rich beauty in reference to these landmarks. I remember that I’d just look away (this was at the tender age of five or so), laugh or sometimes even hiss; more than likely emulating some adult i had seen earlier doing the same, at the effrontery of such blatant lies because in my view Nigeria, dirty Nigeria that I lived in wasn’t beautiful. I would even in disgust, wonder how blind this people were to think or even believe that they could fool me or the populace into believing that forests and water can be rich and beautiful.  

Fast-forward to 2009 and beyond… It is fair to say that there is nothing better than being enlightened and having all the facts or at least a lot of them before making decisions, n'est-ce pas?

After years of travel, i walked into the commercial heart of Nigeria …Lagos and found that everything shined so brightly that i thought, i was watching high definition television. I automatically re-evaluated my stance on Nigeria’s beauty without meaning to or realising that I had to. The first impact of the country on my senses was like being hit in the face (in a good way…if there is any such thing), everything had a pulse, seemed and was alive.

I however decided to be cautious about changing my mind, because Lagos alone isn’t Nigeria and we had all heard about governor Fashola’s miracles in helping to provide and facilitate markers that have indeed helped Lagos posses required elements and structures that are expected in civilised states.

The truth however is that for me the beauty I could see was from the intensely organic richness, and colours that all naturally occurring phenomenons exuded around me, even the sun though hot did its part in showing Nigeria’s good side . I however though hypothetically, the logical and sensible thing to do was to visit as many other states in the country as possible, luckily because of business, family and friends, I got the opportunity to do so .

The proverb ‘a prophet is not recognised in his own town’ couldn’t be truer here, because the fact is that, all shrubbery that I have seen in Nigeria have generally been intensely richer than those seen in Caribbean’s states such as Jamaica or the Bahamas whose claim (I must add) to beauty and it reverence as a tourist haven stems from naturally occurring land marks such as ours. The naturally occurring weeds and wild vegetation here have plusher colours and are physically more viable than some of the ones that have been formally cultivated in western countries, even when surrounded by filth.

I honestly have been amazed, when i realised that even areas that would ordinarily be described and defined as slums, had a distinctly picturesque feel to them, probably because of the astounding vibe that the Nigerian people are born with, which all antidepressants in the world could not infuse into some more developed countries as I have seen. I saw that even when some parts of the country that I visited smelled of garbage and rot (even Manhattan smells and has refuse lying in clear sight), that it did so with pizzazz.

In all honesty though, there were areas which were very shameful, sad and degenerative that shouldn’t and wouldn’t be present in many rich, beautiful nations yet, somehow the simplicity of the people of these places as I saw them, their existence, the unity of their spirits and struggles managed to transcend the normal confines of beauty. I’ll say it again Nigeria is beautiful!