From “Son Of Nobody” To “Son of Somebody”: Nigeria Must Break The Chains

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." Frederick Douglass

In every corner of Nigeria today, the story is the same: millions of ordinary citizens the so-called “sons of nobody” are struggling to become “sons of somebody.” Yet the harsh truth is that the political elite have mastered the art of keeping us trapped in dependency. They play politics like a game of chess, ensuring no ordinary citizen rises high enough to challenge their dominance.

Every election season, they roll out their playbook: bags of rice, ₦5,000 notes slipped into palms, loud promises that vanish the moment the last ballot is counted. We celebrate these crumbs as though they are solutions. But these handouts are not empowerment they are chains. And we wear them willingly.

Even worse, when a “son of nobody” finally crosses into the world of privilege, he forgets. He forgets the hunger, the strikes, the unpaid salaries, the hopelessness. The teacher who once marched for better pay becomes a principal who silences his colleagues. The academic who once spoke truth to power now fights for political appointments instead of justice. As Chinua Achebe wrote in The Trouble with Nigeria, “The problem with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” But what Achebe didn’t need to add is this: that failure thrives because too many followers sell their rights for short-term favors.

Look around:
University lecturers battle for their salaries while lawmakers collect billions in “allowances.”

Teachers strike for months, but political thrones are handed down like family heirlooms from father to son, from godfather to godson.

Youths are weaponized during elections, promised jobs that never come, and left in the same poverty they were in before the campaign banners came down.

This is no democracy. This is organized exploitation.

Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, once declared: “He who feeds you controls you.” And indeed, the political elite control us because they have trained us to survive on their crumbs. They know our weakness. We are divided, distracted, and easily bought.

But history is full of proof that liberation does not come by accident. It comes when the oppressed refuse to bow. Mandela reminded us: “Courage is not the absence of fear it’s inspiring others to move beyond it.”

Now, another election season is around the corner. Will we sell our voices again? Will we clap for our oppressors because they gave us a bag of rice or paid our transport fare to a rally? Or will we demand a Nigeria where no child is condemned to remain a “son of nobody”?

This is the moment to think. To act. To rebel against political godfatherism, tokenism, and our own complacency. If we fail now, we will not only remain “sons of nobody” we will raise another generation of nobodies.

Nigeria does not need more "big men." Nigeria needs a fair system where every son of nobody has the chance to become somebody not through patronage, but through justice, education, and opportunity.

"If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything." We have been falling for too long.

The time to think twice.

Dr. Gidado Abdulkarim
Dr. Gidado Abdulkarim Salimon writes from No 1b Halal Street Daudu Islamic Village, Ilorin kwara state.

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