An average Nigerian learns how to survive even before they can spell the word.
The country teaches you how to survive right inside your mother’s womb. When you are born, the survival journey continues.
Every day, we are faced with challenges in the country. From the sinking economy to hyperinflation. From the increasing insecurity to the high unemployment rate. Yet, we survive.
At the marketplace, the market woman learns how to make sales so she can survive. In the carpentry shop, the carpentry man works extremely hard to survive. Hairdressers are surviving, despite the low patronage. Petty store owners struggle to make sales, no matter how low. They are all surviving.
I stumbled upon a video where a boy and two ladies are seen singing while walking in the flood. They sing Destiny’s Child “Survivor” while wearing a distressed looks.
By the corner, a canoe ferries some children to nowhere. They watch as the three adults sing beautifully. They imagine the circumstance they were in, unbeknownst to them what is happening.
At the end of the day, they will survive. Maybe the flood has taken their parents away. Maybe it has caused damage to their properties. Maybe they do not have something to eat when they reach wherever they are going. Maybe they are orphans. The government has failed them. The system rapes them every day. They do not have good water to drink, yet floods destroy their shelter.
The word survival has become synonymous with Nigerians. Nigerians adapt to survival shifts faster than electricity transmits current. The government is known to be retrogressive. Successive governments prove to be worse than previous ones. But even at this, Nigerians adapt. They survive. We are happy people. We are Africa’s giant who carries all the heavy load on our necks.
The average Nigerian programs himself to smile when there is anger. Dance when there is no music and eat when there is no food.
Whether the price of bread becomes N3,000, we will survive.
We are Nigerians, and we are known to spell every letter of the word “survival” every day.
