Post by Engr Sylvester Jemigbeyi, PhD (@PXConsulting)

Dangerous Alternatives by Sunday Dawodu, PhD

Nigeria’s current socioeconomic and security challenges did not emerge overnight. They developed over decades. During the 1970s oil boom, government revenues were so high that policymakers often debated how to spend the country’s wealth rather than how to generate it. Yet by the early 1980s, falling oil prices and economic mismanagement had triggered rising poverty, inflation, unemployment, and declining public services. Instead of confronting the corruption and waste that contributed to this decline, successive governments increasingly appealed to patriotism, urging citizens to focus on what they could do for their country rather than demanding accountability from those in power.

As public services deteriorated, Nigerians stepped in to fill the gaps. Communities funded electricity poles and transformer repairs, drilled boreholes for water, built roads, and even contributed to local security infrastructure. What began as temporary solutions gradually became substitutes for government responsibilities. Political elites, rather than addressing systemic failures, grew accustomed to citizens carrying burdens that should have been met through public expenditure.

The result was a deeper entrenchment of corruption. For years, Transparency International and other accountability organisations have continued to identify corruption as one of the greatest obstacles to Nigeria’s development. Funds intended for roads, hospitals, schools, pensions, and security have repeatedly been lost through embezzlement and mismanagement. Meanwhile, many citizens adapted to these failures instead of demanding reform. According to the World Bank and Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, about 40% of Nigerians lack access to reliable electricity. At the same time, more than 133 million people were estimated to be living in multidimensional poverty in 2022. Millions also depend on private generators, spending billions of dollars annually on fuel and maintenance.
Rather than providing the necessary consciousness that can embolden citizens to demand their constitutional rights, religious institutions often capitalise on the vacuum created by state failure, using their prosperity message to dull the minds of citizens. In many cases, they use their message to give citizens a false hope and use their prosperity theology to encourage citizens to view access to healthcare, education, electricity, and economic opportunities as divine blessings rather than constitutional rights. This results in citizens excusing government failures, tolerating political misconduct and or aspiring to join the elite rather than challenge the system. This also influenced what can be termed ‘psychogeographical’ migration patterns and first forms of both internal and external displacements. Some Nigerians moved to communities associated with powerful political or religious figures in the hope of gaining better access to services, while many others chose to emigrate abroad in search of opportunities.

The normalisation of failure, which has been going on almost forever in Nigeria, has produced what may be called ‘dangerous alternatives’, particularly as Nigerians are now faced with the daunting insecurity challenge from bandits and terrorists. While political officeholders continue to receive substantial security allocations and they are in charge of all forms of security apparatus, ordinary citizens are increasingly encouraged to protect themselves against bandits and terrorists despite lacking the legal authority, training, resources, or weaponry available to these organised criminal groups. A state that struggles to provide essential services yet increasingly expects citizens to confront security threats that it has been unable to defeat for more than a decade presents troubling and dangerous alternatives to its citizens.

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