“Books and all forms of writing have always been objects of terror to those who seek to suppress truth.” — Wole Soyinka.
That quote is not about literature. It is about governance.
I ask today: Is Nigeria sleepwalking into its funeral? A holistic account of this week suggests so.
Petrol sells for N1,450 per litre in Abuja and up to N1,500 in northern Nigeria, a 100% increase from N750 in December 2025. In the North East, farmers cannot go to farmlands for fear of abduction. N10,000 which bought 40kg of cooking gas in 2011 now buys 6.9kg in 2026. Families are skipping meals, withdrawing children from school.
And now, the most despicable: On September 17, 37 Nigerian youths died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State. They were 67 artisanal miners crammed into one cell after being arrested on September 15-16. 37 never came out alive. Survivors said they suffocated. Government said disease. Amnesty says many were minors. Whatever the final report says, one fact is unchangeable: Nigerians who went to hustle for daily bread died because the state that arrested them could not preserve them.
This is not reform. This is a system in distress. This is a nation sleepwalking.
How does a nation sleepwalk into its funeral? Prof. Soyinka’s warning gives us the lens, and the 3Cs gives us the cure.
First, when it suppresses truth, it loses CONSCIENCE: 37 youths die in a cell and the first official statement is suspected disease outbreak, while survivors say suffocation and overcrowding. A government that prefers propaganda to data has lost conscience. Books become terror to power because books document.
Second, when it mocks prudence, it loses COMPETENCE: We mock the principal who rides an old car. We celebrate affluence over prudence. So we produce leaders competent at raising gantry price from N1,265 to N1,350 overnight, but incompetent at ensuring detention facilities have ventilation, that refineries work, that food moves from farm to market. Petrol at N750 to N1,480 in nine months is incompetence wearing agbada.
Third, when it normalizes affluence without work, it loses CHARACTER: As our citizen said, “Everyone has turned to TIFU, but we refuse to arrest him.” We know the thief, we dine with him. Character has collapsed. When custody becomes death sentence, character is dead.
The 37 Minna deaths are not isolated. They are the physical manifestation of Soyinka’s warning: when we suppress truth (CONSCIENCE), abandon prudence (COMPETENCE), and celebrate theft (CHARACTER), the funeral becomes inevitable.
A funeral can still be averted, but only if the sleepwalker wakes up. Nigeria must wake up — in its laws and in its culture. The 37 must not be another statistic.
We need investigation that is prompt, thorough, independent, and we need compensation, accountability, and reform of detention conditions. A criminal allegation must never become a death sentence.
— Citizen Richard Odusanya | WITNESS 2026
