Nigeria’s war on merit is destroying its future, By Mohammed Dahiru Aminu

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to the United States for professional engagements related to my work in climate change. While there, I also took some time off to visit friends; Nigerians who had left home in pursuit of excellence. Some are affiliated with top global universities and on the path to becoming leading scholars. Others are pushing the frontiers of medical research at world-class institutions. Many are working for top corporations, excelling in their industries and proving their worth in environments where merit is recognised and rewarded. As I spent time with them, I noticed something striking. Their success was not just about hard work and intelligence, which are attributes many Nigerians possess. Their success was directly correlated to the reward system of the societies they live in. These are societies where excellence is not only recognised but also incentivised. It dawned on me that had these brilliant people remained in Nigeria, the likelihood of their achieving the same level of career fulfillment and legitimate financial success would be close to zero. They would have been trapped in a system that actively punishes merit and rewards mediocrity.

This realisation is not just a thought experiment. Nigeria is filled with PhDs from world-class institutions who, upon returning home, find themselves buried in bureaucratic stagnation. Their careers are dictated not by their brilliance or contributions to knowledge but by how well they can steer a system designed to frustrate competence. Our universities and research institutes are graveyards for potential, where the best minds are often forced into submission, stripped of ambition and left to rot in irrelevance. This is not a coincidence. It is the direct result of a society that has systematically destroyed the value of merit. In Nigeria, even the most highly educated people are made to feel like their employment is an act of charity rather than a reward for their skills and expertise. The entire employment system is driven by patronage, favouritism and nepotism. Employers act like they are doing their employees a favour by giving them jobs, rather than recognising that they need skilled people to build their institutions. This mindset is one of the core reasons Nigeria remains poor and underdeveloped. A nation that does not respect merit is one that will never prosper. Countries that have achieved economic success did not do so by accident. They created systems that ensured that the most competent individuals rose to the top. They built institutions that rewarded excellence, which in turn fueled innovation, productivity and sustainable growth.

But Nigeria’s leaders have carefully and deliberately built a system where merit is sidelined. They have done this because they benefit from it. A society built on merit is one where leaders are held accountable. It is one where those in power must justify their positions with competence. But in Nigeria, leaders have constructed a system where they remain in control by keeping the people weak and dependent. They have designed a country where the average citizen is too poor to resist, too afraid to speak up and too desperate to challenge authority. This is why there is a widespread fear in Nigeria of offending the wrong people. People live in constant anxiety, worrying that someone they offended today might rise to power tomorrow and exact revenge. This is only possible because power in Nigeria is not based on merit but on connections, corruption and the ability to manipulate a broken system. In functional societies, professionals do not need to worry about whether they have offended a politician or an influential figure because their success is not dependent on currying favor. They have options. They have security. They have a system that works for them.

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But in Nigeria, success is not about competence. It is about who you know. People are advised to tread carefully, to be diplomatic, to avoid making enemies. Why? Because the system does not protect talent. It protects mediocrity. It is the reason brilliant professionals either leave the country or resign themselves to a life of frustration. It is why, despite Nigeria producing some of the brightest minds in the world, the country remains stagnant. Talent does not thrive where it is not valued. I have often been told to be careful about what I say so that I do not offend powerful people who might one day be in a position to either help or punish me. But I refuse to live in fear. I refuse to censor my thoughts because of a corrupt system that thrives on sycophancy and submission. Should I deny myself the freedom to speak the truth because I might miss the opportunity to “chop” in government? Should I compromise my integrity for the sake of some future invitation to join the ranks of those looting the country? I say to hell with that.

Unlike in Nigeria, where success often hinges on how much ass one is willing to kiss, in developed countries, success is built on competence and hard work. No one needs to like you for you to succeed. You do not need to suck up to a godfather to be given an opportunity. All you need is the ability to deliver results and the system will reward you accordingly. That is how a society should function. That is how economies grow. That is how nations develop. Nigeria must come to terms with this truth. We will never progress as a nation until we build a system that rewards merit. Until we destroy the culture of nepotism and favouritism, we will continue to stagnate. We need institutions that respect competence, not connections. We need workplaces where employees are valued for their contributions, not treated like beggars. We need a government that serves the people rather than one that enslaves them with poverty and fear. The tragic reality is that our generation is already deeply entrenched in this corrupt mindset.

But there is still hope. We can raise a new generation of Nigerians who refuse to be cowed into submission. A generation that understands that success should not depend on how well you can grovel before the powerful but on how much value you bring to the table. If we fail to do this, then we will continue to produce brilliant minds who will only find success outside our borders, while Nigeria itself remains a wasteland of wasted potential. We have a choice. We can continue to be a nation that glorifies mediocrity and rewards sycophancy, or we can finally decide to build a country where hard work and competence are respected. Until we make that choice, we will remain a nation of beggars groveling for crumbs while other societies move forward. And if that truth makes those in power uncomfortable or angry, then so be it. Perhaps they should be angry enough to finally do something about it.

Mohammed Dahiru Aminu ([email protected]) wrote from Abuja, Nigeria.