On this Democracy Day, I had intended to rest my pen. I wanted to leave the fate written on the walls of history to speak for itself. I thought perhaps the sacrifices of those who fought for democracy were enough testimony. Yet, in the final hour, a thought stirred within me, compelling me to write a message to all of us who have come together to form this sovereign nation called Nigeria. My message is particularly for those who believe that the business of Nigeria lies in the hands of a powerful few. Perhaps they are influenced by what the German sociologist Robert Michels described as the "Iron Law of Oligarchy" ,the tendency for power to concentrate in the hands of a small elite. Looking at our politics, our institutions, and our economy, one may be tempted to believe that the destiny of Nigeria is determined only by those who occupy powerful offices and influential positions. But history tells a different story. Nigeria does not belong to any president, governor, politi...
The Beautiful Burial of Brilliance in an Empire with Scanty Thrones
By Abioye Tosin Lawrence | Oriontimes Editorial
In a society overflowing with self-acclaimed philosophers, where every voice assumes the tone of wisdom and every hand claims mastery, true talent often gasps for air. Nigeria, once hailed as the giant of Africa, has become the graveyard of brilliance, a land where intellect is celebrated in speech but suffocated in structure.
We live in the world of many Socrates, yet few true learners. Everyone speaks, few listen. Everyone teaches, but only a handful understand. And amid this noise of assumed intelligence, raw talent is buried under the weight of hypocrisy, nepotism, and the national addiction to mediocrity.
The Irony of Brilliance and the Poverty of Power
It has become an all-too-familiar irony: the graduate serves the dropout; the thinker reports to the trader; the strategist obeys the loudest voice, not the wisest one. We have replaced intellect with influence, and replaced learning with loudness. In today’s Nigeria, the size of a man’s mind no longer determines his relevance, the size of his wallet does.
This inversion of values is why the nation keeps walking in circles. Our best minds are unemployed or underutilized. The few who dare to think differently are branded as rebels or dreamers. Meanwhile, the corridors of power remain crowded with those who neither read history nor learn from it.
The Beautiful Burial of Brilliance
There is a certain beauty in tragedy, especially when a people learn to normalize it. Nigeria’s most painful reality is not the absence of talent but the elegance with which we bury it. We send our finest abroad, and call it “seeking greener pastures.” We humiliate innovation with bureaucracy and mock integrity as naΓ―vetΓ©.
The brilliant are not absent; they are simply uninvited to the table where decisions are made. It is a burial without a grave, a funeral without mourning, the slow extinction of a gifted generation in an empire with scanty thrones.
When Education Bows to Ignorance
The most disturbing scene of our national theatre is how education bows before ignorance. We see first-class graduates submitting rΓ©sumΓ©s to those who cannot compose a paragraph. We watch seasoned journalists taking orders from political appointees who can barely spell their own titles.
This is not destiny, it is design. A deliberate culture that rewards loyalty above logic and connection above competence.
As long as mediocrity continues to sit where merit should, no reform, no policy, no prayer will redeem us. A nation that devalues intellect invites its own underdevelopment.
Toward a Rebirth of Merit
There must come a time when Nigeria reawakens, when we will stop mocking the intelligent and start mentoring them. Our institutions must rediscover respect for excellence. Our politics must rediscover the discipline of reason. Our people must learn again that humility and learning are not weaknesses, but the foundation of progress.
The world of many Socrates must return to the true spirit of Socratic thought, not the arrogance of knowing, but the courage to seek truth.
Until that happens, brilliance will continue to shine in exile, and the throne of the wise will remain empty, waiting for a nation that remembers how to value its own light.
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Because a nation dies not when her people are poor, but when her thinkers are ignored.
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