SUFFERING AND SMILING: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

Résumé

Should suffering obliterate happiness? Genuine happiness is not a weak and fleeting emotion that shrivels at the first hint of hardship, but, rather, something much more resilient, unshakable and deeply rooted in us. If happiness depends on health, financial security, power, electricity, good road and social amenities, then most Nigerians will not be happy. The way Nigerians react to what others would see as the last straw has made them as a people very difficult to wear out. For many years now, Nigerians have died on the roads that our government will not tar; people die in the hospitals that will not be equipped; people die on the streets that is not secured; and morning afterwards, those who are left among the living will rise very early and rinse their faces and continue. Nigerians have lived under dictators of all shades, benevolent, repressive and civilian. They have seen genocide, massacres and bombs. But then this is Nigeria! It is still Nigeria! A happy nation amidst these challenges!