By Lawan Musa Danlami (Baba Lawan)
October 2026
The Dangerous Misunderstanding of Patience
Why do citizens in France frequently take to the streets to challenge government policies, while millions of Nigerians continue to endure inflation, hunger, insecurity, poor school conditions, unemployment and the persistent threat of kidnapping? Why does public dissatisfaction sometimes translate into mass political mobilisation in France, while in Nigeria, even severe hardship does not always produce sustained collective pressure for accountability?
The answer cannot be reduced to differences in national character. France and Nigeria have different political histories, institutional arrangements, security environments and traditions of civic participation. Nevertheless, one important factor deserves serious examination: the level of public awareness of democratic rights, the ability to organise collectively and the willingness to hold political leaders accountable.
In Nigeria, limited civic education, political misinformation, patronage and the manipulation of ethnic, religious and partisan loyalties can weaken citizens' ability to defend their collective interests. In some communities, people may endure conditions that they would otherwise challenge more forcefully if they understood the full extent of their constitutional rights and the lawful mechanisms available to demand accountability.
This is not to suggest that Nigerians are inherently ignorant or that all French citizens possess superior political knowledge. Many Nigerians are politically conscious, courageous and actively involved in civic affairs. The problem is that widespread hardship does not automatically produce the organisation, information and institutional pressure necessary to secure meaningful change.
A population can be patient because it understands the need for restraint, but it can also remain passive because it has been denied information, divided by political interests or made to believe that challenging authority is futile. Distinguishing between these conditions is essential to understanding Nigeria's democratic challenges.
France: A Society With an Established Tradition of Civic Resistance
France has a long history of popular mobilisation, beginning with the French Revolution of 1789 and extending through the workers' and students' demonstrations of May 1968, the Yellow Vest movement of 2018 and the protests against pension reforms in 2023.
These episodes demonstrate an established tradition of citizens, trade unions, students and professional associations challenging government decisions through collective action. French political culture recognises public demonstrations as an important, although sometimes contentious, means of expressing dissatisfaction and placing pressure on policymakers.
This does not mean that every French citizen understands every constitutional provision or that every demonstration represents the majority's position. Nor does it mean that French protests always achieve their objectives. Rather, organised civic action provides a mechanism through which grievances can become politically difficult to ignore.
When people believe that a government policy threatens their purchasing power, employment conditions or access to public services, they can mobilise through unions, associations, political organisations and other established networks.
The important lesson is that democratic rights become more effective when citizens understand them, organise around shared interests and use institutions to make their demands heard.
However, violence, arson and attacks on innocent people are not necessary conditions for civic resistance. Peaceful demonstrations, legal challenges, investigative journalism, public-interest litigation and organised advocacy can all serve democratic accountability.
Nigeria: When Suffering Becomes Normalised
Nigeria's difficulties are not limited to economic hardship. They include insecurity, corruption concerns, unemployment, inadequate educational facilities, weak infrastructure and persistent inequalities in access to public services.
Many households struggle to afford food and transportation. Some children attend schools with insufficient teachers or inadequate facilities. In several parts of the country, particularly areas affected by insurgency and banditry, families live with the threat of kidnapping, displacement and attacks on their livelihoods.
Yet these conditions do not always produce sustained nationwide pressure for institutional reform.
One explanation is that prolonged hardship can gradually become normalised. When citizens repeatedly encounter rising prices, unreliable public services and insecurity, they may begin to regard these conditions as unavoidable features of everyday life rather than failures that demand effective public responses.
Another factor is the immediate struggle for survival. Citizens who spend most of their time trying to obtain food, pay rent, find work or protect their families may have limited time and resources for sustained civic participation.
A further problem arises when political leaders and influential groups encourage citizens to interpret public issues primarily through ethnic, religious or partisan identities. People who share similar economic difficulties may then become divided over which political camp deserves support, weakening their ability to demand common standards of accountability.
The result is a troubling contradiction: citizens may suffer similar problems while remaining politically divided over the solutions.
Consequently, instead of actively participating in democratic processes, holding leaders accountable, and demanding good governance, many citizens find themselves compelled to seek political patronage as a means of survival. Political loyalty becomes a strategy for accessing financial assistance, employment opportunities, or other basic necessities rather than a genuine expression of ideological conviction.
This is one of the most dangerous consequences of poverty: it does not merely empty people's pockets; it can also weaken their political consciousness, undermine their independence, and make them vulnerable to manipulation by those in power. When citizens are too hungry to question their leaders, too poor to educate their children, and too desperate for employment to challenge injustice, democracy risks becoming a system in which political loyalty is rewarded while public accountability is neglected.
Civic Ignorance and the Failure to Understand Democratic Rights
One of Nigeria's most important democratic challenges is the uneven distribution of civic knowledge. Many citizens have limited access to reliable information about constitutional rights, public budgets, the responsibilities of elected officials and the legal channels available for challenging government decisions.
Where civic education is weak, political participation can become concentrated around elections, personality cults and party loyalty rather than continuous scrutiny of public performance.
Some voters may believe that supporting a politician creates an obligation to defend that politician regardless of policy outcomes. Others may assume that questioning an elected official amounts to disrespect, disloyalty or opposition to their community. Such attitudes can make it harder to distinguish legitimate political accountability from partisan hostility.
This is where political ignorance becomes consequential. When citizens do not know what they are legally entitled to demand, they may be less equipped to challenge failures in education, healthcare, security, employment policy and public expenditure.
Nevertheless, it would be unfair to blame the Nigerian public alone. Civic awareness is shaped by access to quality education, freedom of information, media literacy, institutional transparency and the conduct of political leaders. Governments, schools, civil society organisations, religious institutions and the media all have responsibilities in strengthening public understanding.
The answer to inadequate civic knowledge is not to insult citizens. It is to make civic education accessible, encourage critical thinking and ensure that public institutions provide information that people can understand and verify.
The Constitution Gives Nigerians Rights That Must Be Understood
Nigeria's 1999 Constitution, as amended, establishes important democratic protections. Section 39 protects freedom of expression, while Section 40 protects the right to assemble freely and associate with others. Section 41 provides for freedom of movement, subject to constitutional and legal limitations.
These protections are important because citizens cannot effectively hold their government accountable if they do not understand their rights or the lawful procedures for exercising them.
The right to peaceful assembly enables citizens to organise demonstrations and express dissatisfaction. Freedom of expression permits public criticism of government policy. Freedom of association allows people to form unions, professional bodies, community organisations and civic groups.
These rights are not unlimited, and their exercise remains subject to applicable law. Nevertheless, citizens should not be made to believe that peaceful criticism of government is inherently unlawful or that political officeholders are beyond scrutiny.
Democracy is not merely the act of voting every four years. It also involves monitoring public expenditure, examining government decisions, demanding explanations, reporting abuses, participating in public consultations and seeking legal remedies where appropriate.
A citizen who understands these responsibilities is better positioned to distinguish between a leader's political promises and measurable public performance.
Why French Civic Mobilisation Offers a Lesson for Nigeria
The comparison with France is useful, provided it is not exaggerated. France has its own problems of political alienation, misinformation, inequality and declining trust. Not all French citizens are civically informed, and not all protests succeed. Nigeria, meanwhile, has a strong history of civic resistance, from the struggle against colonial rule to labour movements, pro-democracy activism and the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests.
The difference is not that Nigerians never resist. It is that civic mobilisation can be fragmented, inconsistent or weakened by fear, economic vulnerability and political division.
France's history demonstrates how unions, student organisations, professional associations and civil society groups can turn individual grievances into collective demands. These organisations provide structures through which citizens can communicate, coordinate and negotiate with the government.
Nigeria can strengthen similar structures by investing in civic education, independent journalism, legal assistance, public-interest organisations and transparent local governance.
Citizens should learn to ask concrete questions: How much money was allocated to a school? Was the project completed? What measures have been taken to protect a vulnerable community? How much has been spent on public infrastructure? What outcomes have resulted from a government programme?
These questions shift public debate from political personalities to public responsibilities.
Patience Must Not Become a Licence for Neglect
Patience is not inherently a weakness. In a diverse country such as Nigeria, restraint can help prevent political disagreement from turning into communal violence. Peaceful engagement, negotiation and constitutional processes are essential to democratic stability.
But patience becomes dangerous when leaders interpret it as indifference or when citizens are persuaded that they have no right to question those exercising public power.
The responsibility of government is to provide security, protect constitutional rights, manage public resources transparently and deliver essential services. The responsibility of citizens is to remain informed, evaluate political performance and demand accountability through lawful means.
Neither responsibility can replace the other.
Nigeria does not need to reproduce every feature of French political protest. It needs to build a democratic culture in which citizens understand their rights, organise peacefully around shared concerns and hold public officials accountable regardless of ethnicity, religion or party affiliation.
Conclusion: An Informed Citizen Is Harder to Manipulate
The contrast between France's tradition of protest and Nigeria's prolonged endurance of hardship raises an important question about democratic consciousness. When people understand their rights and possess effective channels for collective action, they are better equipped to challenge policies they consider unjust. When civic knowledge is limited and political divisions are deep, suffering can continue without generating sustained pressure for reform.
However, Nigeria's difficulties cannot be explained by public ignorance alone. Poverty, insecurity, fear, institutional weakness and the daily struggle for survival also constrain participation. Many Nigerians understand their rights but face serious obstacles when attempting to exercise them.
The way forward is therefore not to condemn the people for enduring hardship. It is to strengthen the conditions that allow them to participate meaningfully in democratic life.
Schools should teach constitutional literacy. Media organisations should explain public policy and scrutinise government performance. Civil society should make civic education accessible. Political leaders should welcome legitimate scrutiny rather than treating criticism as hostility. Citizens, in turn, should look beyond partisan loyalty and judge elected officials by their records and results.
France's experience offers a reminder that public dissatisfaction can become politically consequential when citizens organise around shared grievances. Nigeria's experience demonstrates why civic knowledge, institutional trust and the practical ability to participate are indispensable to effective accountability.
A people who do not understand their rights are easier to manipulate; a people who understand them but lack the means to exercise them remain vulnerable; and a people who combine civic knowledge with peaceful organisation possess a stronger foundation for democratic accountability.
Nigeria's emancipation must begin with knowledge, continue through lawful collective action and find its ultimate expression in institutions that serve the public. The goal is not to encourage violence or romanticise unrest. It is to ensure that no Nigerian has to endure hunger, insecurity, failing schools or preventable suffering without knowing that government has responsibilities and citizens have rights.
A democracy becomes stronger not when its people remain silent, but when they can question power intelligently, exercise their rights peacefully and demand results without fear.
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