Curiosity or Clout?

Omooo I have a bad habit. 😭Whenever something starts trending in Nigeria, I click on it.Not because I enjoy gossip. I just like knowing what has managed to capture the attention of over two hundred million people. Sometimes it's a celebrity relationship. Sometimes it's a skit. Sometimes it's a leaked voice note. Sometimes it's another debate that nobody asked for but somehow everybody has an opinion on.A few months ago, I came across the story of a Nigerian student who had won an international mathematics competition. I read the comments expecting the excitement to match the achievement.It didn't.The next day, my timeline had completely moved on.Everybody was talking about a celebrity rumour. Before that disappeared, people were making bandit memes. Then it was "Alte baddies." After that came "Geh Geh’ wedding palava." Then National Girlfriend's Day arrived and suddenly timelines were filled with love declarations, relationship debates and enough unsolicited relationship advice to solve everybody's problems except the people giving it.I laughed too.Some of the memes were genuinely funny.I don't think Nigerians joke because we don't care. I think we joke because, sometimes, laughter is the only affordable coping mechanism left. We laugh through fuel scarcity. We laugh through power outages. We even laugh at things that probably shouldn't be funny.But somewhere between surviving with humour and living through it, I started wondering if we had accidentally trained ourselves to reward whatever entertains us the fastest.That was the question that took me back to one hot afternoon in my secondary school classroom... The heat was unbearable. The fans had long since become decorations hanging from the ceiling, and our Mathematics teacher looked like a man questioning every decision that had led him into the classroom.Then Musa started talking.Again.The teacher warned him once. Then again. Finally, he dropped the chalk."Oya, since your mouth cannot rest, answer this question."Musa stood up. He stared at the board as though the answer might suddenly appear out of pity.Nothing.The teacher sighed."Olodo! See your head like ball."Without missing a beat, Musa replied,"Sir... which type of ball?"The classroom scattered. Even the teacher had to turn away because he was trying not to laugh.By closing time, nobody remembered the Mathematics question.Everybody remembered Musa's question.For years, I thought that story was simply funny.Now I'm no longer sure.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/IMG_6784.jpeg"/> Perhaps that memory explains why YCee's phrase, "Olodo Uprising," struck such a nerve. To some people, it sounded arrogant, as though intelligence belongs only to people with degrees. To others, it described a worrying culture where ignorance is no longer something to outgrow but something to proudly perform. I understand both sides.For years, Nigerians were told the same thing."Read your books. Education is the key."Many people listened. They graduated with excellent results, only to discover that certificates do not automatically create opportunities. At the same time, social media gave other people a different route. <img src="/media/inline_insight_image/IMG_6785.jpeg"/> A phone, an internet connection and creativity became enough to build careers, feed families and become successful.Can we honestly blame young people for noticing?I don't think the problem is that influencers exist or that ordinary people now have opportunities that were once impossible. That is progress.The problem begins when we mistake popularity for competence, visibility for value and confidence for knowledge.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/IMG_6783.jpeg"/> That, to me, is where the conversation about the Olodo Uprising really begins. Somewhere along the way, we started confusing authenticity with anti-intellectualism.Authenticity says, "This is who I am."Anti-intellectualism says, "Learning doesn't matter."Those are not the same thing.I have met people without university degrees whose wisdom could fill lecture halls. The mechanic who diagnoses an engine simply by listening to it. The market woman who calculates figures before you've even unlocked your phone. The old malam who may never speak polished English but somehow explains life in a way you never forget.None of them taught me that knowledge was useless.If anything, they reminded me that learning never ends.The opposite of ignorance is not a certificate. It is curiosity.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/IMG_6782.jpeg"/> Perhaps that is the real danger. Not that people are uneducated or speak broken English, or even that entertainment has become profitable. The danger is when ignorance itself becomes profitable. When saying the wrong thing with confidence attracts more attention than quietly saying the right thing. When being uninformed becomes a brand instead of a starting point. When applause rewards certainty more than curiosity.So are we rewarding ignorance or authenticity?I don't think the answer is as simple as choosing one.We are finally living in a society where success is no longer reserved for people with prestigious degrees or privileged backgrounds, and that is worth celebrating. Authenticity has opened doors that were once firmly shut.But authenticity should never become an excuse to reject knowledge. There is nothing authentic about refusing to grow. Curiosity has built every profession we admire, every invention we celebrate and every society that has ever moved forward.Every society reveals what it values by what it applauds.If we cheer excellence only when it entertains us but celebrate mediocrity simply because it goes viral, we should not be surprised when the next generation begins chasing applause instead of understanding.I still have that bad habit.Whenever something starts trending, I click on it.The difference is that these days, I'm less interested in what is trending than in why it is.Because trends come and go.What they reveal about us has a way of staying.

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