By Dr. Abiola Salami
GRIT: How to EMERGE When the System Is Broken. An excerpt from the book GRIT: How Young People in Developing Countries Can Grow, Rise, Innovate & Thrive Against All the Odds in their Country by Dr. Abiola Salami
INTRODUCTION:
Living in a developing country like Nigeria is a masterclass in emotional endurance. From unreliable social services and endless queues to inflation that rises faster than your salary, the system often feels like it’s rigged to test your patience, sanity, and dreams. You plan, you pray, you push and still, things fall apart.
Let’s be honest; Nigeria can test you, test your patience and test your plans. Sometimes, it even tests your blood pressure.
You wake up hopeful, and then NEPA takes light during your online job interview, your dream contract gets canceled because “one oga’s nephew” is now interested.
You spend six months learning a skill, only to realize that the government just banned the platform that pays you.
At least once a week, every Nigerian under age 35 would have made this statement: “This country will not kill me.”
But here’s the brutal truth: You cannot wait for the system to be fixed before you start thriving. There are things you cannot control but there are also things you can control.
Today, let me show you what you can control and how you can build resilience, manage your mental health, create protective boundaries, and develop a strategy that keeps you sane, successful, and sovereign; no matter how broken the system is.
Let us dive in.
Nigeria is a paradox. We have world-class talent in a third-world trap. We have potential in abundance but systems in chaos. Many Nigerian systems are not just inefficient, they are destructive:
- Public universities on strike every election year.
- Graduates roaming without employment for 5 years.
- Police meant to protect end up profiling the very youth they swore to defend.
- Fuel scarcity, power outages, cash unavailability and policy inconsistency.
The pressure is not just physical it is psychological because when systems fail, people break. You start to doubt your worth, you feel stuck in a loop of survival, you lose faith in hard work and start romanticizing “japa” (i.e. relocation) as your only option.
But not everyone will leave and not everyone should. The true test of character is what you become when life gets unfair.
But here’s the thing: “The system is broken, but your spirit doesn’t have to be broken.”
Every day, young Nigerians like you are building brands, businesses, careers, and communities in spite of the mess. This is not because it’s easy. But because they chose not to break with the system.
My friend, the system may be broken, but you are not the system. So, don’t personalize the dysfunction. One of the most dangerous mindsets to adopt in Nigeria is this: “If I’m struggling, it must mean I’m not doing enough.”
That is a falacy. Your struggles is not necessarily because you are weak. You are struggling because you are navigating a rigged terrain without a map or protection.
That is why you must learn to separate three things:
- Your identity from your environment.
- Your worth from your productivity.
- Your self-esteem from your setbacks.
In order to flip this script, here are 5 things you must do to thrive as the system is broken
1. Decide That You Will Not Go Mad.
This sounds funny, but it’s profound. Every day, decide that your mind matters. Refuse to let chaos be your compass. When fuel scarcity hits and the ATM eats your card, breathe, not break. You may not be able to control Nigeria’s madness but you can control your mindset so that the madness doesn’t rob you of your destiny. My friend, in a country that makes you feel powerless, choosing peace is a form of rebellion.
2. Create a Local Life with a Global Mindset
Nigeria may be your address but it doesn’t have to be your boundary. You can live here and work for clients abroad through freelance, remote jobs or by creating digital products. You can live here and sell globally through Etsy, Amazon KDP, Udemy and other platforms. You can live here and learn globally through free courses from Harvard, Google, Coursera and other platforms.
My friend, don’t wait to “japa” before you start thinking like a citizen of the world.
3. Curate Your Mental Diet
If your social media timeline is full of doom, gossip, and scandal you will slowly rot inside. Instead, follow pages that teach you, make you laugh, or remind you of your power.
Remember, your mental diet is what you scroll, who you follow, what you binge and what you believe.
My friend, follow thinkers, builders, dreamers and doers. Infact, be one of them.
4. Find Micro-Wins in Macro-Mess
Nigeria may not give you a medal, but you can give yourself a moment to celebrate your wins. So, if you finished that course, celebrate. If you woke up early to work, that’s a win. If you landed a small gig after 10 rejections, document that joy.
My friend, in this country, if you wait for big breakthroughs to feel good, you will stay broken for too long.
5. Protect Your Peace Like It’s a Full-Time Job
In Nigeria, drama is always looking for tenants don’t rent your peace out to twitter wahala or WhatsApp broadcast fear mongers or toxic friends who always say “na so this country be.”
My friend, your peace is sacred. Guard it and fight for it.
Conclusion
The system is broken but you don’t have to shatter with it. You can rebel by resting. You can resist by being focused. You can revolt by protecting your mind. You can win by building silently. Thriving in Nigeria is not about escaping every challenge. It is about developing a mindset and system that helps you rise anyway. You are not here to wait or expect change from anyone else. You are here to become the change.
You were born with ideas, with fire, with promise. Your country may try to drown it with broken policies, unkept promises, long queues, bad roads and silence from people in power. But you? You must rise anyway, work anyway, dream anyway, laugh anyway, lead anyway and build anyway. You can become the headline. So heal quietly, win loudly and build regardless. Nigeria may be the background, but it must not permanently leave your back on the ground. Don’t let the system win.
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About Dr. Abiola Salami
Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp ; The Peak PerformerTM Festival Made4More Accelerator Program and The New Year Kickoff Summit. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on hello@abiolachamp.com and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.
