NIGERIANS vs. NIGERIANS: WHEN WE BECOME OUR OWN WORST ENEMIES
By Pius Ade Babaleye (Pab)
When Dangote announced a drop in petrol price to ₦699 per litre, the entire
nation went silent.
No jubilation.
No reduction in transport fares.
No relief in food prices.
No easing of daily pressure.
Nothing.
Yet, let that same pump price rise to ₦1000 tomorrow, and before the fuel truck even parks, prices across markets, motor parks, and supermarkets would skyrocket by 200–300% instantly. Without verification. Without reason. Without shame.
And it forces a painful question: Why are we like this?
Why do we fight every opportunity to make life easier for ourselves? Why do we enforce suffering on one another as if it is a national assignment? At times, I wonder whether the government we complain about is not simply a reflection of our collective behavior—because this mindset didn’t start in Aso Rock. It starts in our markets, motor parks, shops, estates, and supermarkets.
Look at the absurdities we now normalize:
A 45-minute flight from Lagos to Owerri now costs around ₦400,000.
A road trip on GUO? ₦80,000 for a single seat.
House rent increases that have no justification.
Supermarket prices that seem like financial crime scenes.
And here’s the part that exposes everything:
Petrol price is stable. Forex is relatively stable.
So what exactly is driving these endless increases?
These two indicators were once the sacred explanations for everything. But now that they are steady, we suddenly act as though they no longer matter.
This is no longer inflation.
This is not economics.
This is not “market forces.”
This is deliberate cruelty—a system where Nigerians weaponize hardship against Nigerians.
Because somewhere along the line, we didn’t just start suffering…
We started enjoying inflicting suffering on others.
And that is the tragedy.
Until we confront this truth—that the problem isn’t only government policies but also the daily decisions of ordinary people—nothing will change. Not even if petrol drops to ₦200 or the dollar returns to ₦500.
A nation cannot heal when its people sabotage themselves.
And right now, it is painfully clear:
Nigerians don’t just endure hardship…
We help create it.
For one another.
