Nigeria’s democracy has been hijacked by political billionaires with no traceable record of legitimate enterprise. Those who claim to serve the people have converted public office into a conveyor belt to obscene wealth, looting the commonwealth with breathtaking speed, confidence, and impunity.
Yet the deepest tragedy is not only the looting itself, it is the cruel irony surrounding it. The very citizens crushed by this theft are routinely mobilised to defend their oppressors. For crumbs from stolen tables, hungry and desperate Nigerians are hired to insult, intimidate, and sometimes attack anyone who dares to speak the truth. They flood the streets and social media, acting as foot soldiers for politicians who are actively destroying their future.
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While looters and their families live in obscene comfort at home and abroad, their most vocal defenders cannot afford three square meals a day. Still, they sing praises for men who have reduced them to misery in a land overflowing with resources. This is not loyalty; it is tragedy weaponised.
In today’s Nigeria, the fastest route to wealth is no longer innovation, industry, or enterprise; it is politics. Join the system, perfect the art of looting, abandon conscience, and riches arrive almost instantly. Wickedness has quietly become a qualification for leadership.
Civil servants, too, cannot pretend innocence. Many are not passive observers but active collaborators, quietly reminding politicians of funds left undiverted when they are “forgotten.” Together, corrupt politicians and complicit bureaucrats have formed a cartel that feeds relentlessly on public resources.
Corruption now flows seamlessly from top to bottom. Looters are no longer discreet; they are brazen. They mock citizens openly, boasting that nothing can be done. Dissent is ridiculed, threatened, or silenced. Truth-tellers are branded enemies, while thieves are celebrated as “smart.”
How did Nigeria arrive at this dark junction, where questionable characters run public affairs and corruption is worn like a badge of honour? How did a nation so richly blessed end up with over 90 per cent of its people battling hunger, deprivation, and hopelessness, all inflicted by a greedy few?
Public funds are stolen and exported to foreign accounts, enriching individuals while hollowing out the nation they claim to serve. If this continues unchecked, one must ask an uncomfortable but urgent question: will there still be a country called Nigeria tomorrow?
This menace will not end through silence, praise-singing, or hired abuse. Those acts only deepen the grave. Nigeria can still be saved but only if citizens wake up, reject manipulation, and defend truth instead of attacking it.
History is watching. And it will not be kind to those who sold their future for crumbs.
Written by Festus Edovia, anipr, ficm
