Nigeria: My Country, My Home, My Love

Hey everyone, I think this blog is one of the coolest and I am so happy to represent Nigeria.

ABOUT ME

My name is Ufuoma. I am female, 26 years old and I live in Lagos (Now I feel like I am auditioning for "Miss something" lol).

LOCATION

Africa. West Africa to be exact.

SMS LINGO/SLANG FOR NIGERIA

Naija

I have heard opinions from people from different countries across the globe about Nigeria. Like all countries, some of these opinions have been positive while others have been not so positive.

I have lived and studied in Nigeria all my life and will be introducing the world to my Nigeria.

MUSIC INDUSTRY

One of the genre on my ipod is Nigerian Music. I wrote an article on my blog tairebabs (http://misstairebabs.blogspot.com/) about the Nigerian music Industry. We have a fantastic industry that is expanding daily. What I like most about the industry is the fact that it accommodates different types of music such as fuji, pop, rap, religious, afrobeat, juju and so much more. We have so many wonderful artist like 2 face idibia, P square, d'banj, 9ice, Olu maintain, Tosin Martins, Sammy Okposu and so many more awesome artist.

As a sign of our achievement in the music industry, some of our artists have received international recognition. In 2007, MTV awarded d'banj with the best African Act Award. The previous year, the same award was presented to our very own 2 face idibia for the song "African Queen". I love that song. You should watch it on Youtube.

Was amazed to see videos on Youtube of people from different countries worldwide singing African Queen. One particular video of a boy and his sister singing African Queen while playing a guitar really touched my heart. That song is so good I actually googled to see if 2 face was the owner of the copyright.

MOVIE INDUSTRY - NOLLYWOOD

Ah Nollywood, there's Hollywood, Bollywood but Nigeria has got Nollywood locked down. Although I will admit that Nollywood still has a lot to learn and the industry needs to understand the importance of quality over quantity however, we must be doing something right since the industry is presently the third largest national film industry in the world. I once read an article that said Nollywood outsells Hollywood in Africa. Can't confirm; statistics is not my forte.

OIL INDUSTRY

Yes we have crude oil. This topic has been so over-flogged that all I will say is yes, there is crude oil in Nigeria.

WHAT NOLLYWOOD AND THE OIL INDUSTRY HAVE IN COMMON

Well, there is a joke that says "Nollywood employs more Nigerians than the Nigerian Oil Industry". Again, statistics is not my forte!

OUR LOVE FOR FOOTBALL

We have a passion for football. All kinds of football competitions be it the World Cup, English Premiership, Africa Cup etc. Kids in Nigeria can tell you the names of all the football leagues worldwide - Nigeria (NFL), English (Premiership), South Africa (Ibhola lethu), German (Bundesliga) etc. I find that amazing. Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea (in no particular order) jerseys are all unofficially part of our casual dress code. I have got one too! lol.

EDUCATION

Nigerians love school! I mean we reaally lovvve school. You know how you hear people from other countries say I dropped out...well don't even think about it. "Dropping out of school" is a phrase that doesn't exist in Nigeria. It's totally different if you say there is not enough finances but to voluntarily drop out..are you kidding me?

There's so much more I have to say about Nigeria and I will update you as the weeks go by. Heeeeew! Nigeria is a big country.

How did I do representing it???