…Citizens laugh, hustle amid deep pains
…Families engage in ‘survivalist entrepreneurship’ — Researcher
For millions of Nigerians, survival is no longer just a necessity, it has become an act of quiet defiance, a daily performance of resilience against the relentless bite of economic hardship.
Nigeria’s economy is in a paradoxical state. Official statistics tell one story; lived experience tells another. The government touts GDP growth figures and foreign investment pledges, yet, inflation is still double digits (22.22 percent in June 2025 despite third consecutive monthly decline), food, transportation and rent are still stubbornly high and poverty indicators remain grim.
According to the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Brief released in April 2025, rural poverty has soared to 76 percent, meaning three out of every four rural dwellers now live below the poverty line. Nationwide, the poverty rate climbed from 40 percent in 2018 to 46 percent in 2023, a reminder that statistical “growth” often leaves the most vulnerable behind.
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And yet, life goes on. Markets hum with activity. Workshops ring with the clank of metal and the whirr of machines. Owambe parties light up weekends. Nigerians laugh, hustle, and, as Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti famously put it, “suffer and smile.”
The root of hardship
Nigeria’s socio-economic distress runs deep. Years of policy inconsistency, entrenched corruption, dependence on oil, and inadequate infrastructure have created a fragile foundation. The combined shocks of COVID-19, global commodity price swings, and, more recently, sweeping economic reforms such as fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification have only tightened the squeeze.
“Nigerians are quite resilient and can endure anything,” said Simon Samson, an Economics lecturer at Baze University, Abuja, and head of the consultancy ARKK Economics and Data Limited. “While the harshness of the economic situation is not in doubt, the people have resigned themselves to it.”
For the average citizen, these macroeconomic issues translate into concrete struggles: Food prices have more than doubled in some areas within a year, many are forced into informal, low-paying jobs to scrape by and erratic electricity supply and skyrocketing fuel prices drive up business costs and household expenses.
Yet, somehow, the country doesn’t grind to a halt
“Nigerians’ ability to adjust to the adverse effects of recent economic reforms is driven by a combination of structural and behavioural economic factors,” said Abdulfatai Adedeji, a research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Economies of Africa (CSEA), in earlier conversation with BusinessDay.
“The high level of informality and self-employment, especially in agriculture and small-scale enterprises, provides flexible, though often low-income, avenues for income generation.”
Adedeji describes what he calls “survivalist entrepreneurship,” where households juggle multiple ventures to stay afloat. This adaptability means they can pivot quickly when economic shocks hit.
“They reprioritise expenditures, focusing on essentials like food while slashing non-essentials. Many are also turning to social networks for support or selling off food stock to stay afloat,” he added, citing the 2023/24 General Household Survey.
The survey found that 14 percent of households reduced food consumption, 10.6 percent sold food stock, 9.1 percent took on additional income-generating activities, and nearly 14 percent received informal support from friends or relatives.
The Nigerian survival toolkit
Nigerians’ ability to endure seems almost mythical to outsiders, but it’s rooted in a combination of adaptive strategies:
The hustle mentality: Multiple streams of income are the norm, not the exception. From a banker who moonlights as an event planner, to students running small online stores, side hustles are a lifeline.
Community safety nets: Extended family systems and religious networks often step in where formal welfare systems fail. Contributions for school fees, medical bills, and funerals are pooled through churches, mosques, and social clubs.
Humour and creativity: Satire, memes, and music serve as both coping mechanisms and forms of protest. Despite the high cost of mobile data, social media lights up with jokes that mask genuine frustration.
Faith and hope: Religion plays a central role in sustaining optimism. Across the country, mosques and churches remain full, with messages of hope and perseverance echoing louder during tough times.
Read also: Drop in inflation rate yet to ease hardship for Nigerians
‘Government or no government, life must go on’
For Esther, a 29-year-old PoS operator in Lagos, life has never been easy, but she refuses to quit. “If I wait for government, I go die of hunger,” she says with a smile. She runs her mobile money business at a nearby market, sells thrift clothes online, and still sends money home to her parents in the village.
Similarly, Olawale, an employee in a private organisation, uses his car for Uber during weekends to augment his income.
“I don’t joke with my weekend, you rarely see me attend Owambe on Saturdays and Sundays, unless it is very important,” he said.
Resilience and reform
The Nigerian story is one of grit, ingenuity, and adaptability. But analysts warn that resilience should not be mistaken for a substitute for reform. As Adedeji notes, the ability to adapt is admirable but it risks enabling complacency among policymakers.
The endurance of ordinary Nigerians should inspire, but it must also provoke urgent action to address the structural roots of hardship.
Until then, life will continue in its strange duality: hardship etched in the daily grind, yet smiles breaking through like sunlight after rain.
As Fela sang decades ago, the song remains the same, the suffering and the smiling.
