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We Are Slowly Becoming the Problems We Complained About
<p>We used to say “Nigeria will change when we have better leaders.”</p><p> But lately, I’m starting to think Nigeria will change when <em>we</em> do.</p><p><br/></p><p>Because somehow, we’ve slowly become the very problems we complained about.</p><p>We drag politicians online for being corrupt — “thieves,” we call them — but then we tip the police to “move on fast.” We pay the immigration officer to skip the line. We slip the bank worker small money to “help us process it quick.”</p><p><br/></p><p> We hate corruption, yet we negotiate with it every day. Just in smaller denominations.</p><p>And it doesn’t stop there.</p><p><br/></p><p> We shout “bad governance” with full chest, yet some of us dream of entering office just to “collect our own share.”</p><p> We complain about “Yahoo boys,” but we also laugh when one of them sprays money at a party.</p><p> We say “God will punish corrupt leaders” — then write off dishonesty as “just hustling.”</p><p><br/></p><p>Somewhere along the line, our outrage became performance.</p><p><br/></p><p>We complain about tribalism, yet when it’s election time, we suddenly become campaign managers for “our person.”</p><p> Forget track record — what matters most is that they speak our language or share our last name. We say we want a new Nigeria, but we still vote with old loyalties.</p><p>And we justify it all with “that’s how the country is.”</p><p><br/></p><p> No. That’s how <em>we’ve made</em> the country.</p><p><br/></p><p>It’s not that we’re bad people. It’s that we’ve learned to survive by bending rules, and now we don’t know how to live without them.</p><p><br/></p><p> The system broke us, yes — but now we’re using the same broken tools to build our lives.</p><p><br/></p><p>Still, there’s hope.</p><p> Because I’ve seen Nigerians say no — to bribes, to bias, to shortcuts. I’ve seen people speak up online, question things in meetings, and actually wait their turn even when “connection” was available.</p><p><br/></p><p> It’s small, but it’s something.</p><p>Maybe that’s how it starts.</p><p><br/></p><p> Not with one big revolution, but with a thousand quiet decisions — one honest choice at a time.</p><p><br/></p><p>Because the truth is: Nigeria’s problems didn’t start with them.</p><p> They started with us.</p><p> And maybe, if we’re bold enough to admit that,</p><p> they can end with us too.</p><p><br/></p>
We Are Slowly Becoming the Problems We Complain...
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Emilia's Pen
Emilia's Pen
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