In the classrooms of our finest universities, from University of Lagos to Ahmadu Bello University and University of Nigeria, Nsukka, we were taught that society behaves in patterns. That human needs are predictable. That institutions respond to incentives. That rational actors pursue self-interest in orderly, measurable ways.
The theories were elegant. The models were coherent. The diagrams were symmetrical.
Then, we stepped into real life. And real life did not read the textbooks😂😂😂
This article is captioned “Viewer Discretion is Advised” not because it contains violence or vulgarity, but because it confronts uncomfortable truths, truths about the paradox between theory and lived experience in Nigeria’s civic space. The discretion required here is moral courage and the Comfort of Theory.
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that individuals prioritize physiological survival, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization in sequential order. Development economists, argued that when basic needs are unmet, citizens will logically demand good governance. Political science frameworks tell us that accountability strengthens when citizens are informed and organized🤷♂️ Public administration theory, assumes that civil servants act as neutral guardians of institutional integrity😂, Social contract theorists insist that legitimacy flows from the consent of the governed.
On paper, these theories are compelling. On the streets of Nigeria, they are constantly negotiated, distorted, sometimes outrightly defeated and humbled.
The Landmine Field of Advocacy
Operating a civil social organization in Nigeria is not a straight road. It is a minefield. When we advocate for transparency in local government allocations, we are labeled partisan by the ruling party.
When we demand accountability for public funds, we are accused of undermining “our own” especially at subnational level. When we mobilize citizens to vote based on policy, we are countered with cash, rice, maggi, and other political theater. However, theory says citizens experiencing poverty will resist exploitation🤷♂️ On the ground experience shows that immediate survival often overrides long-term interest.
During elections, we witness communities we have trained on civic responsibility accept inducements from the very political actors whose policies perpetuate their hardship. It is not ignorance alone, it is a rational survival adaptation within a broken system. A mother who has not fed her children cannot eat future policy reform. She eats today’s rice. This defies simplistic interpretations of rational choice theory. People are rational but within constrained realities. The rational decision in extreme poverty may sabotage long-term collective gain for short-term individual survival.
That is not stupidity. It is desperation institutionalized.
The Paradox of the Poor Protecting the Powerful
Public administration frameworks emphasize bureaucratic ethics, transparency, and procedural accountability. Yet in reality, we encounter civil servants underpaid, overworked and struggling but fiercely protect corrupt superiors under the illusion of “office secrecy.” Why does a poorly paid official defend a system that exploits him🤷♂️🤷♂️ Theory suggests he should support reform. Experience reveals fear, patronage networks, and psychological dependence. The civil servant is told loyalty equals job security. He protects the corrupt leader not because he thrives but because he survives. The system conditions him to equate silence with stability. Thus, the very custodians of accountability become shields against it.
When the Oppressed Oppress
Consider the commercial motorcyclist (the “okada” rider) who extorts inflated fares from fellow low-income citizens during fuel price hikes. In the same breath, he curses the President for subsidy removal. Meanwhile, the macroeconomic theory discusses subsidy distortions and fiscal sustainability🤷♂️
Political economy explains rent-seeking behavior. Yet on the ground, the bike man who suffers from economic hardship passes the burden downward. He is both victim and perpetrator. He blames national leadership while replicating the same exploitative behavior within his immediate sphere. The chain of oppression cascades downward, each layer transferring pain to the next. The oppressed become enforcers of the very injustice they denounce.
Breaking the Box, Not Thinking Outside It
Development literature encourages us to “think outside the box.” But in Nigeria’s civic terrain, the box itself is reinforced concrete, we must break it.
Breaking the box means: Understanding that poverty reshapes morality.
Accepting that survival instincts can overpower civic ideals😂
Recognizing that systemic corruption embeds itself culturally, not merely institutionally.
Designing interventions that address incentives, not just awareness.
Civic education alone cannot defeat hunger. Policy reform without trust-building will collapse.
Transparency mechanisms without protection for whistleblowers are decorative. Real life demands adaptive leadership. It requires negotiating with traditional rulers while confronting local government chairmen. It requires engaging youth groups who distrust NGOs yet demand empowerment🤷♂️ It demands sitting across the table from those you criticize. Advocacy here is chess played on a flooded board.
The Illusion of Linear Progress
Theories often assume progress is incremental and cumulative. But in practice, civic gains are reversible. A reform secured today can be dismantled tomorrow after an election😂
A community empowered last year can relapse into vote-buying this year.
Development in fragile governance contexts is cyclical, not linear as theorized. We celebrate small wins cautiously, because backlash is real.
Political retaliation is real.
Funding constraints are real.
Citizen fatigue is real.
The Hard Truth About Human Needs
Maslow’s pyramid implies upward movement toward self-actualization. But what happens when systemic instability keeps pushing citizens back to the base of the pyramid?
When inflation erodes income.
When insecurity threatens safety.
When unemployment strips dignity. Then, people naturally oscillate between survival and aspiration. In such an environment, expecting consistent civic idealism is unrealistic.
Human needs are not static tiers, they are shifting battlegrounds.
Accountability Begins at the Bottom
It is easy to indict political elites. It is harder to confront societal complicity.
When citizens sell votes, they mortgage collective future. When civil servants hide files, they bury justice. When small traders inflate prices opportunistically, they deepen inflationary pressure. When communities protect corrupt leaders because “he is our son,” they normalize impunity.
Governance failure is not only vertical. It is horizontal.
This assertion of mine, does not absolve those in power, far from it. But sustainable reform requires acknowledging that corruption is systemic, not exclusive. The Courage to See Clearly “Viewer Discretion is Adviced” because acknowledging these paradoxes demands emotional maturity. It forces us to abandon comforting binaries of good citizens versus bad leaders.
Reality is layered: Victims participate in their victimhood.
Reformers navigate suspicion.
Institutions resist transformation.
Survival instincts override civic virtue.
As Executive Director of an organization working across Nigeria’s subnational and national spaces, I have learned that change is less about perfect theory and more about contextual intelligence.
We must design solutions that:
Reduce the cost of integrity.
Increase the reward for accountability.
Protect reform-minded insiders.
Align immediate incentives with long-term benefit. Until then, theory will remain elegant and reality will remain stubborn.
My Conclusion
The paradox between academic frameworks and lived experience is not proof that theory is useless. It is proof that theory must be translated.
The World and Nigeria does not lack frameworks. It lacks synchronized contextual incentives. It does not lack awareness, rather struggles with structural contradiction. It does not lack patriots, rather it lacks protective systems for patriotism. Viewer discretion is advised because the mirror this article holds up reflects all of us.
Change will not come merely from thinking outside the box. It will come when we dismantle the box, brick by brick altogether.
– Amb. Idris Ozovehe Muraina, an Executive Director of a Civil Social Organization in Nigeria.
