Someone once said “geography is destiny”. And I think that to be true to some extent (not ignoring other factors that come to play in shaping destinies). Where we’re from, our parents etc. all help in pointing us to what we’d become. I’m proud to be a Nigerian. Even though currently, the national image keeps plummeting faster than I can blink. Nigerians are now identified for more negative things in the international system. People constantly want to migrate to seek greener pastures because the system is pretty much broken. Here’s what I think, it all comes down to our perspectives. How do we see things?

In Media and Communications, we were taught about Media Framing. This has to do with the angle through which people choose to see things or tell stories. You find this when you observe the way different news outlets deliver a story. Most of them frame stories to suit their agenda or interest. Media framing has also played a fast one on my country, where stories of terrorism, kidnapping, fraud, corruption make it to the headlines. While other stories of resilient young people who wake up to fight the odds every day, never get told.

I am a Nigerian, and I have chosen not to identify with any of the negative attributes the media portrays. God made me this way to shine forth his light. To show forth hope in despair, joy in depression, peace in chaos, love in spite of our circumstances. I refuse to identify with the words ‘poor, scam, corrupt, lazy’ or any other negative term that has been used to describe us as a nation. And trust me, there are many like me out there. Many who have found their destinies in helping people become better, in shining bright wherever geography has landed them.

So what’s your perspective? Do you only see the bad? Or can you find the good in where you are from or where you’re at this moment?

Happy Independence Day Nigeria! 👏🏽

And Happy New Month, dear one!

Love,

M.❤️