“When impunity becomes a way of life, everyone loses”
Today I want to write about Nigeria.
A country I love deeply, but I hate to live in. Not because it lacks everything I love, but because impunity is everywhere.
People do what they want, how they want, and nothing happens.
Leaders abuse power and still demand respect.
Civil servants collect salaries and barely show up.
Bribes are expected like service charges.
Deadlines mean nothing everything is “flexible”.
Merit is optional, connections are currency, and perhaps most fascinating: people build wealth without any visible industry.
And we’ve all adjusted. We joke about it. We say to ourselves, “that’s how it is”. It’s the life we now live every day.
It’s the parent who lies for their child’s admission.
It’s the business owner who underpays staff but feels entitled to loyalty..
It’s the pastor who pulls rank at airports and skips queues.
It’s the influencer who glamorises luxury but hides the source.
It’s the “big man” who drives against traffic while the police salute.
We often say Nigeria is hard. And it is.
But some of what makes it hard is not the hardship itself — it’s the injustice of seeing people win by doing the wrong thing. It’s the heartbreak of realising that you can work hard, play fair, and still be left behind because the system is not built to reward that path.
Still, I believe in Nigeria. Maybe not as it is, but in what it could become.
