Living life to the full includes maximising and enjoying the beautiful things of life presents or has to offer. However, the quality of life one lives depends on many factors such as the family background, life exposure, opportunities/privileges maximised, determination/desire for the best and other things. Every human being desires or likes the good things of life as no one desires to live an inferior or low quality life and hence, the search for greener pastures. To maximize life for some, there will be need for migration or change of location.
Personally, i was born and lived the first 18 years of my life in a rural setting and by this, i saw a standard of living which such can present or offer an individual or family. As an undergraduate student in a Federal University in Nigeria some few years ago, i had the privilege of been a part of the team on a rural outreach to villages and towns in rural areas and i know firsthand what it a rural life can afford. Likewise, I'm presently staying in an urban area which is infact a state capital here in Nigeria and i also saw and know what an urban life is or can afford someone. I have heared stories of our parents leaving the villages and rural areas back then to go to urban areas either for schooling, trading or in search of a better life.
The rural area has abundant supply of food and natural resources because most times from my experience, agriculture is the mainstay there especially in this Southwestern part of Nigeria. However, the social amenities like good roads, quality drinking water, schools, health facilities, electricity etc are inadequate or even lacking in some cases giving the rural inhabitants low quality of life. The urban area on the other side has the direct opposite of this but however faced with overpopulation, social vices/crimes, high cost of living and so on. The rural area has advantage of low cost of living, access to natural agricultural resources, natural serenity, more cultured clime while the urban areas has more sophistication and amenities with more job opportunities.
By my choice based on my experience of both, i will always prefer an urban area for my residency and family life. I remembered a true life story of my parents making that life defining decision to relocate from the rural area i was born & raised for about 18 years to the urban area i.e. the state capital itself as a result of a transformed career, quality information, good family life, better living conditions (as a result of good amenities), productive exposures/connnects a family friend that made this same decision some years earlier are enjoying and the impacts are undeniable.
Now, my parents are ever grateful that they made that decision even though it was demanding on them back then, but it really worth it as the state of living in the rural area is now worse than we left it and people there who are abit educated are relocating out of that rural area. The major issue is that of government abandoning or neglecting these rural areas and failure to provide them with the needed amenities to make life worth living for them. As a healthcare professional, i often see patients coming from rural areas to the urban area where i practice and i felt sorry for them due to lack of such facility in their area.
The imbalance between the rural and urban area and high migration from rural to urban area is a major contributive factor to famine in the land because arable land for farming ia in the rural areas and the lack of accessible road to such rural areas reduced the transportation from such areas to the urban areas. Most outbreaks of diseases are rampant in the rural areas than in the urban area. I believe that humanity comes first and everyone been a citizen of a particular country deserves to enjoy a good life, hence more is needed to be done in the rural area. Thank you for reading and comments/contributions are welcomed.
This is my entry to @Hivelearners weekly featured contents, week 135 edition 03 on "URBAN OR NATURAL"