Let’s Talk About Resilience

A few days ago, I had a beautiful conversation with a friend. Often, we exchange on our different passions and our humanitarian engagements. But, this time, he made me question a few realities I earlier took for granted. We talked about my mission, his projects, and my last vacation. Among other things, we talked about the insecurity in Nigeria. And then he made me realize something new: Nations and people who have been long oppressed develop a form of toxic forbearance.

Let’s consider the Nigerian situation. If you look at how happy Nigerians behave, you will think everything is going perfectly well.

One only needs to look well to understand that the citizens are abandoned to fend for themselves. According to the World Health Organization,

“The lifetime risk of a Nigerian woman dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum or post-abortion is 1 in 22, in contrast to the lifetime risk in developed countries estimated at 1 in 4900.”

Yet, when one Googles “unemployment rate in Nigeria,” one will find different stories. But the truth is that one can’t easily quantify unemployment in a nation that has almost zero plan for its youth. And when they do, 50% will be on paper, and the other, politically distributed.

Hospitals are worse than a piggery in certain places, and government schools so neglected that one could mistake them for abandoned war camps.

And despite all these, people bounce around happily. And in every corner of the city, there are myriads of churches, mosques prayer houses promising heaven on earth. Market places and streets are full of ambulant preachers inoculating the citizens with fabricated lies for a better future that will never come.

Don’t get me wrong. Nigerians should be happy. That’s maybe the only thing that keeps people moving. The government has already stolen every job opportunity, and society, sold to the highest bidders. And the absence of hope is never an option if the nation does not want to face a mass suicide. So, hang on there, but know that no miracle is on the way.

Let society redefine what she is being sold as virtues. Resilience could be deadly! And preachers could intoxicate you with it. How resilient are those who receive gifts from the same politicians that sit on your future? Quit expecting miracles while they dine with the oppressors.

Why despite the hardship in the land, both the politicians and religious leaders keep on progressing? Does anyone believe in a God that replenishes their bank accounts? Of course, no! This is because God has nothing to do with people getting rich or poor. The truth is that if the politicians keep on financing these preachers, they will continue to falsely appear as the pro that God answers their prayers. And while the poor masses toil to pay their tithes to them, they keep on buying private jets.

This form of resilience is fake as it has nothing to do with either being happy or close to God. Know that it is not wrong to be sometimes annoyed, even with God, if need be. But never forget that it is not God that is sitting on your progress—the politicians are. It is also not God that spends that tithe you pay—your religious leaders do.

Imagine, how can the same God bless them with private jets when you can hardly afford three square meals?

How can your certificate fetch you no job when the politicians are spending their weekends in the luxurious hotels in Dubai and London?

If your resilience does not help you to grow, it is a poison that will eventually kill you.