Nigeria and the problem of adaptation by Frederick Lawrence
The term ‘suffering and smiling’ has been often used to describe Nigerians as a people but is this a compliment or a damning indictment? Let’s examine this from another perspective. Average life expectancy is 54, human development index is way below average, 67% or about 112 million of us live below the poverty line, basic amenities and civil rights remain a mirage so what do we have to smile about? Our attitude is not one of resilience in the face of adversity, we have rather resigned ourselves to the sorry state of things, we adapt.
As conditions worsen, we don’t ask questions of our leaders, we don’t demand more from our overpaid government, we rather pay the price for their ineptitude and adapt to their avarice. Like lambs resigned to an inevitable fate, we find something to smile about on our way to the slaughter.
Like frogs in a kettle that’s being heated by degrees, we keep adapting to the water as it gets hotter and die a slow death. It appears we are not uncomfortable enough with the squalor in which we live to aspire to a higher standard. We are addicted to suffering, that’s why we can smile about it.
