Opinion
Nigeria Too Fragile For An Uprise
Following widely circulating rumours on social media about a looming protest tagged ‘#EndBadGovernance Protest,’ purportedly against the current hardships in the country, there is need for the Federal Government of Nigeria, and in deed, all Nigerians to co-operate in finding amicable solutions that would avert the breakdown of law and order. Aside from the rumours, notable Nigerians had earlier warned of possible unrests as many Nigerians face daily hunger. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, had warned that hunger riots might break out in Nigeria if government does not act fast to save the masses from being pushed to the point of taking to the streets. On July 8, 2024, out of anxiety and fear, one Mr Shuaibu Yushau attempted suicide by climbing the Aso Radio mast in protest against hunger, insecurity and hardship in the country and was later arrested. Following the understanding of security officials, he was later released on bail to receive psycho-social care and support, from where, however remains the question.
Admittedly, so many Nigerians are going through tough economic times due to unabating inflation, insecurity and hunger, amidst widespread unemployment in a country where public officials have been perceived to rather live in affluence. Indeed, it is easy to feel alienated in such situations. In as much as protests remain the fundamental rights of every citizen, the protagonists of nationwide protests should be warned not to play into the hands of criminally-minded elements, who would want to hijack a genuine desire to initiate mass-action towards drawing government’s attention to the sufferings of many. This warning is in view of past experiences when such protests derailed with bitter consequences, and were alleged to have been infiltrated by hoodlums who hid under the guise of genuine protesters to unleash criminality against innocent Nigerians, whose interests protests were intended to serve.
During the #EndSARS protests in October, 2020 for instance, a peaceful protest that genuinely demanded an end to the brutality of some bad eggs in the police, acting especially in the then Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), finally degenerated into general anarchy that led to shops being looted and many being killed. The Nigerian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector, a key driver of the nation’s economic growth, remains collateral victim during such civil unrests as shops are usually targeted for looting and vandalism. During the #EndSARS crises, criminal arsonists looted, vandalised and burnt shops of innocent traders in Lagos especially. With no compensations paid whatsoever to revive adversely affected MSMEs, the national economy in the face of other external, economic factors, have not recovered since that incident.
Experience has also shown that some unenvisaged and mismanaged outcomes tend to tilt protests towards tribal conflicts. Again, in some states during the #EndSARS crises, the killing of innocent passers-by led to ethnic reactions that spiralled away from the core of main protests and degenerated into tribal misunderstandings that created the ‘Unknown Gunmen’ saga which the nation still contends with. This is not to mention the controversy over the horrorful number of deaths and the involvement of the Nigerian Army in the regrettable October 20, 2020 shootings at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, in which unconfirmed reports claimed hundreds died. But while an Amnesty International report says 12 people were killed in the incident, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who initially denied any deaths in the incident, later admitted to the CNN report that only two persons died, yet the state’s Judiciary Panel of Inquiry reported that nine persons were killed with 48 other casualties. But to the dismay of many on July 24, 2023, the Africa News exposed a plan by the Lagos State Government to conduct mass burials for 103 victims who had remained unclaimed at the morgue since the 2020 Lekki toll-gate shootings.
While the wounds from those events remain unhealed, the increasing level of hunger in Nigeria may be fanning the embers of anger and desperation occasioned by grim hunger and abject want, to the point of another protest being plotted. According to social media rumours, a nationwide protest is imminent in the early weeks of August, 2024 which, if it ensues at the scale of the #EndSARS movement, might be more catastrophic. Moreso, the increasing rate at which arms and psychotrophic substances are being intercepted at the nation’s ports is a cause for concern, and a pointer that something sinister may be going underground, especially with the alarming seizure at Onne Port on June 21, 2024, of 844 assault riffles and 112,500 live ammunition. Government should move early enough to peacefully disarm a looming anarchy, rather than delay to create a situation where the military would have to quench charged mobs with the barrel of guns.
But, opting to hunt and arrest suspected planners of peaceful protests or pointlessly victimising frontline politicians would rather be counter-productive as many may perceive such moves as attempts to gag and shutdown free speech and genuine expressions. Such treatments as recently meted-out at the Senate, to Senator Ali Ndume of Borno State, may embolden the resolve of protest plotters to carry-on without any cooperation with the authorities, and would be a pitiable setting towards anarchy. The federal government should therefore urgently summon a conference of stakeholders involving youth bodies, unions, traditional and religious leaders and civil society organisations, towards finding short-term and long-term solutions to mass hunger. While the current distribution of 20 trucks of grains by the federal government to each state of the federation is commendable, government needs to engage the people more towards achieving sustainable solutions, because while 20 trucks might look gigantic on the surface, it is merely a drop of water compared to the oceans of needs of Nigerians. Even if equitably distributed, 20 trucks per state cannot provide a square meal to all Nigerians taken at a time. Nigerians want to see themselves being able to sustainably provide their needs, and not the mirage of palliatives being dangled.
By: Joseph Nwankwor
The line that separates betrayal and corruption is very thin. Betrayal and corruption are two sides of the same coin. Like the snail and its shell they are almost inseparable. They go hand-in-globe. Betrayal and corruption are instinctive in humans and they are birthed by people with inordinate ambition – people without principles, without regard for ethical standards and values. Looking back to the days of Jesus Christ, one of his high profile disciples-the treasurer, was a betrayer. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for just 30 pieces of silver. One of the characteristics of betrayers is greed.
So, when on resumption from his imposed suspension, the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminilayi Fubara threatened to bring permanent secretaries who were found complicit in “defrauding” the State during the days of Locust and Caterpillar regime, he did not only decry a loot of the Treasury but the emotional trauma of betrayal perpetrated by those who swore to uphold the ethics of the civil service. Governor Siminilayi Fubara had least expected that those who feigned loyalty to his administration would soon become co-travellers with an alien administration whose activities were repugnant to the “Rivers First” mantra of his administration. The saying that if you want to prove the genuineness of a person’s love and loyalty feign death, finds consummate expression in the Governor Fubara and some of the key members of the State engine room
Some of those who professed love for Governor Siminilayi Fubara and Rivers State could not resist the lure and enticement of office in the dark days of Rivers State, like Judas Iscariot. Rather, they chose to identify with the locusts and the caterpillars for their selfish interest. Julius Caesar did not die from the stab of Brutus but by his emotional attachment to him, hence he exclaimed in utter disappointment, “Even you Brutus”. The wound of betrayal never heals and the scar is indelible. Unfortunately, today, because of gross moral turpitude and declension in ethical standards and values, betrayal and corruption are celebrated and rewarded. Corruption, a bane of civil/public service is sublime in betrayal. The quest to get more at the expense of the people is the root of betrayal and sabotage.
This explains why Nigeria at 65 is the World’s capital of poverty.
Nigeria is not a poor country, yet, millions are living in hunger, abject poverty and avoidable misery. What an irony. Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies and most populous nation is naturally endowed with 44 mineral resources, found in 500 geographical locations in commercial quantity across the country. According to Nigeria’s former Minister for Mines and Steel Development, Olamiekan Adegbite, the mineral resources include: baryte, kaolin, gymsium, feldspar, limestone, coal, bitumen, lignite, uranium, gold, cassiterite, columbite, iron ore, lead, zinc, copper, granite, laterite, sapphire, tourmaline, emerald, topaz, amethyst, gamer, etc. Nigeria has a vast uncultivated arable land even as its geographical area is approximately 923, 769 sq km (356,669 sq ml).
“This clearly demonstrates the wide mineral spectrum we are endowed with, which offers limitless opportunities along the value-chain, for job creation, revenue growth. Nigeria provides one of the highest rates of return because its minerals are closer to the suffer”, Adegbite said. Therefore, poverty in Nigeria is not the consequences of lack of resources and manpower but inequality, misappropriation, outright embezzlement, barefaced corruption that is systemic and normative in leaders and public institutions. According to the World Poverty Clock 2023, Nigeria has the awful distinction of being the world capital of poverty with about 84 million people living in extreme poverty today.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data also revealed that a total of 133 million people in Nigeria are classed as multi-dimensionally poor. Unemployment is a major challenge in the country. About 33 percent of the labour force are unable to find a job at the prevailing wage rate. About 63 percent of the population are poor because of lack of access to health, education, employment, and security. Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) speculated that unemployment rate will increase to 37 percent in 2023. The implications, therefore, is increase in unemployment will translate to increase in the poverty rate. The World Bank, a Washington-based and a multi-lateral development institution, in its macro-poverty outlook for Nigeria for April 2023 projected that 13 million Nigerians will fall below the National Poverty line by 2025.
It further stated that the removal of subsidy on petroleum products without palliatives will result to 101 million people being poor in Nigeria. Statistics also show that “in 2023 nearly 12 percent of the world population of extreme poverty lived in Nigeria, considering poverty threshold at 1.90 US dollars a day”.Taking a cursory look at the Nigerian Development Update (NDU), the World Bank said “four million Nigerians were pushed into poverty between January and June 2023 and 7.1 million more will join if the removal of subsidy is not adequately managed.” These startling revelations paint a grim and bleak future for the social-economic life of the people.The alarming poverty in the country is a conspiracy of several factors, including corruption. In January, 2023 the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International, in its annual corruption prospect index which ranks the perceived level of public sector corruption across 180 countries in the world says Nigeria ranked 150 among 180 in the index. Conversely, Nigeria is the 30th most corrupt nation in the ranking. It is also the capital of unemployment in the world.
Truth be told: a Government that is corruption-ridden lacks the capacity to build a vibrant economy that will provide employment for the teeming unemployed population. So crime and criminality become inevitable. No wonder, the incessant cases of violent crimes and delinquency among young people. Corruption seems to be the second nature of Nigeria as a nation . At the root of Nigerians’ poverty is the corruption cankerworm.How the nation got to this sordid economic and social precipice is the accumulation of years of corrupt practices with impunity by successive administrations. But the hardship Nigerians are experiencing gathered momentum between 2015 and 2023 and reached the climax few days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who assumed power as president of Nigeria, removed the controversial petroleum subsidy. Since then, there is astronomical increase in transport fares, and prices of commodities. Living standard of most Nigerians is abysmally low, essential commodities are out of reach of the poor masses who barely eat once a day.
The Dollar to Naira exchange rate ratio at one dollar to N1,000, is the most economy-unfriendly in the annals of the history of Nigeria. The prohibitive prices of petroleum products with the attendant multi-dimensional challenges following the removal of the subsidy, has posed a nightmare better to be imagined than experienced. Inflation, has been on the increase, negatively affecting the purchasing power of low income Nigerians. Contributing to the poverty scourge is the low private investment due to.unfriendly business environment and lack of power supply, as well as low social development outcomes resulting in low productivity. The developed economies of the world are private sector-driven. So the inadequate involvement of the private sector in Nigeria’s economy, is a leading cause of unemployment which inevitably translates to poverty.
Igbiki Benibo
In today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world, the pursuit of success and growth has become an all-consuming force. Individuals, organisations, and nations alike, are locked in a perpetual struggle to achieve more, earn more, and surpass their rivals. Yet, beneath this relentless drive for progress lies a silent danger—the risk of self-destruction. This perilous pattern, which I call the self-destruct trajectory, describes the path taken when ambition and growth are pursued without restraint, awareness, or moral balance. The self-destruct trajectory is fueled by an insatiable hunger for more—a mindset that glorifies endless expansion while disregarding the boundaries of ethics, sustainability, and human well-being. At first glance, it may appear to promise prosperity and achievement. After all, ambition has long been celebrated as a virtue. But when growth becomes the only goal, it mutates into obsession.
Individuals burn out, organisations lose their soul, and societies begin to fracture under the weight of their own excesses. The consequences are everywhere. People pushed beyond their limits face anxiety, exhaustion, and disconnection. Companies sacrifice employee welfare and social responsibility on the altar of profit. The entire ecosystems suffer as forests are cleared, oceans polluted, and air poisoned in the name of economic progress. The collapse of financial systems, widening income inequality, and global environmental crises are all symptoms of this same relentless, self-consuming pursuit. To understand this dynamic, one can turn to literature—and to Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In one of the novel’s most haunting scenes, young Oliver, starving in the workhouse, dares to utter the words: “Please, sir, I want some more.” This simple plea encapsulates the essence of human desire—the urge for more. But it also mirrors the perilous craving that drives the self-destruct trajectory. Like Oliver, society keeps asking for “more”—more wealth, more power, more success—without considering the consequences of endless wanting.
The workhouse itself symbolises the system of constraints and boundaries that ambition often seeks to defy. Oliver’s courage to ask for more represents the daring spirit of human aspiration—but it also exposes the risk of defying limits without reflection. Mr. Bumble, the cruel overseer, obsessed with authority and control, embodies the darker forces that sustain this destructive cycle: greed, pride, and the illusion of dominance. Through this lens, Dickens’ tale becomes a timeless metaphor for the modern condition—a warning about what happens when ambition blinds compassion and growth eclipses humanity. Avoiding the self-destruct trajectory requires a radical rethinking about success. True progress should not be measured solely by accumulation, but by balance—by how growth serves people, planet, and purpose.
This calls for a more holistic approach to achievement, one that values sustainability, empathy, and integrity alongside innovation and expansion
Individuals must learn to pace their pursuit of goals, embracing rest, reflection, and meaningful relationships as part of a full life. The discipline of “enough”—knowing when to stop striving and start appreciating—can restore both mental well-being and moral clarity. Organisations, on their part, must reimagine what it means to succeed: prioritising employee welfare, practising environmental stewardship, and embedding social responsibility in the core of their mission. Governments and policymakers also play a vital role. They can champion sustainable development through laws and incentives that reward ethical practices and environmental responsibility. By investing in education, renewable energy, and equitable economic systems, they help ensure that ambition is channeled toward collective benefit rather than collective ruin.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a tangible pathway for this transformation. When businesses take ownership of their social and environmental impact—reducing carbon footprints, supporting local communities, and promoting fair labour—they not only strengthen society but also secure their own long-term stability. Sustainable profit is, after all, the only kind that endures. Ultimately, avoiding the self-destruct trajectory is not about rejecting ambition—it is about redefining it. Ambition must evolve from a self-centred hunger for more into a shared pursuit of the better. We must shift from growth at all costs to growth with conscience. The future will belong not to those who expand endlessly, but to those who expand wisely. By embracing restraint, compassion, and sustainability, we can break free from the cycle of self-destruction and create a new narrative—one where success uplifts rather than consumes, and where progress builds rather than burns.
In the end, the question is not whether we can grow, but whether we can grow without losing ourselves. The choice is ours: to continue along the self-destruct trajectory, or to chart a more balanced, humane, and enduring path toward greatness.
Sylvia ThankGod-Amadi
