There is something Nigerians do exceptionally well that we rarely stop to appreciate: we always find a way.
‘No wahala. We move. We go run am.’
Different expressions, but often the same idea: this may not have gone according to plan, but we are not stopping here.
You see it everywhere. When the price of something suddenly doubles, we start looking for alternatives. When the power goes out, somebody brings out the rechargeable fan. When the bus breaks down halfway through a journey, everyone somehow starts figuring out how to get to their destination. When one plan fails, another one is already taking shape.
Maybe that is why Nigerians are so good at making something out of very little. We have learned to adjust, improvise and keep going, often without giving ourselves much credit for how much effort that actually takes.
There is something deeply cultural about it too. We grow up watching our parents make things work, watching neighbours help each other out and hearing people say, “Don’t worry, we will sort it out.” Somehow, that attitude becomes part of you.
Of course, always having to find a way can have its downside. People should not have to become experts at coping with things that should simply work. Resilience can sometimes hide how difficult life has become.
Still, there is something worth appreciating in the Nigerian instinct to keep moving. We may complain, laugh, calculate, improvise and complain again, but somewhere in all of that, we are usually looking for the next move.
Maybe that is one thing we do exceptionally well. We find a way.
