One of Nigeria’s deepest tragedies is not only the collapse of leadership, but the quiet, enduring self-deceit of the governed. We tell ourselves comforting lies while living with daily misery. We pretend that all is well when life has become unbearable for millions of families. Worse still, we applaud the very hands tightening the noose around our necks.
Yes, Nigeria’s leaders have failed, spectacularly and repeatedly. But there is a painful contradiction we must confront: those who suffer the most are often the loudest defenders of those responsible for their suffering.
Across the country, the same grim theatre plays out. Hungry citizens are hired for rallies. Paid crowds chant praises for leaders whose policies have eroded their purchasing power, dignity, and hope. Men and women who can barely afford basic food items dance under the scorching sun for ₦5,000, an amount that cannot cook a pot of soup—while attacking anyone bold enough to speak the truth.
This is not loyalty; it is exploitation. It is not genuine support; it is survival turned against itself.
In private, these same people lament their condition. They complain that life is unfair, that prices are crushing, that school fees and rent are impossible, that their children’s future looks increasingly bleak. Yet in public, they wave banners for politicians who have transformed governance into a personal enterprise, jetting off to Europe and America, living in obscene luxury with their families and associates, far removed from the suffering they have imposed on the masses.
A plate of rice. A pack of noodles. A handful of naira notes. This is the price at which the future is mortgaged, another four years of hardship sold cheaply.
Let us be honest with ourselves: temporary relief is not progress. Hunger does not disappear because you danced at a rally. Poverty does not vanish because you shouted slogans. Tomorrow will come, and when it does, the same leaders will remain in power, while you remain trapped poorer, angrier, and more desperate.
The tragedy is not that politicians manipulate; that is the nature of bad leadership. The real tragedy is that the governed allow themselves to be used, defend their oppressors, and viciously attack those who attempt to awaken their conscience.
Nigeria cannot change until Nigerians confront this painful truth. Responsibility does not rest on leaders alone; it also lies with citizens who must refuse to trade their dignity for crumbs.
The governed must wake up. As long as we deceive ourselves, celebrate our own hardship, and applaud failure, progress will remain a mirage. A society built on self-deceit cannot prosper.
What we are witnessing is a culture of manipulation but worse still, a nation willingly lying to itself.
Written by Festus Edovia, anipr, ficm.