Sufferhead Olympics, Here’s Your Medal!

A lot of people work so hard year-in year-out but have nothing to show for all the efforts. Some do little but bag all the accolades and goodies. Could it be that hard work is overrated or smart work is underrated? Could it be that crime thrives over both hard work and smart work? Wait! Does crime qualify as smart work? You think it doesn’t, even when it foots the bills and the perpetrators go free?

Why do Africans especially Nigerians often prefer hard work over smart work? Why do we work so hard but get nowhere? Just maybe we have over romanticized struggles and difficulties. “I dey hustle day and night” is one phrase you have probably heard over and over again if you reside in Nigeria.

Gini mere ndi mmadu ji mgbenye anya isi? Being poor is definitely not a crime but why do people derive pleasure from talking about their sufferings? Competitive victimization is commonplace in Nigeria. You tell someone what makes your life terrible and you immediately notice the person working so hard to prove that his/her own problems outweigh yours. From trying to prove that he/she is suffering more than you are, it begins to sound like the person is bragging about having more problems than you do. How such people derive satisfaction from facing more problems than others is just super-shocking, interesting and research-worthy at the same time.

” You no suffer reach me...” is what you often say but should this really be a competition? Are we not supposed to join forces to fight the issues we face head-on rather than trying to trump each other in this suffering game. I don’t want to play this game with you. For us to become free, maybe we really should flee from such people.

When you refuse to participate in sufferhead olympics, you are accused of being materialistic and lazy. Some even accuse you of being an asshole or arrogant peerson. They want you to play the game and they also want to win. Why do you despise walkovers? I don’t want to play against you, just take the trophy already.

Some have even been denied jobs just because they came for interviews in exotic cars and had sophisticated gadgets. Could Sufferhead Olympics possibly be a synonym for inferiority complex? Why would you think a potential employee will be too difficult to manage or impossible to work with simply because they are wearing designers’ clothes, using the latest iPhone or driving a luxury car? Do we just love having struggling people around so we can take undue advantage of them, underpay them and treat them like rags?

In Nigeria, every young person who drives a Mercedes Benz is by default profiled as a criminal and assumed guilty of all possible crimes until proven innocent. Sufferhead Olympics it is! We just love people to be at our mercy. Sadly, majority of Nigerians believe whatever you own has no value if it wasn’t gotten through suffering and hardship? Of course, there is nothing wrong in working hard or smart but why the over-exaltation of suffering?

Many Nigerians expect you to look wretched and walk with a hunch bag while your eyes scan and pick every detail from the floor. You are expected to act very humble and call every male specie ‘chairman’ and evey female specie ‘madam’. You are expected not to challenge the status quo or ask questions, else you are considered a hot head. We are in bed with suffering and we have been having unprotected sex with her for too long.

Dear friends, it is not everytime one complains about something that you have to respond with “it’s worse in my area. My own bad pass your own“. Just shut up if you can’t proffer a solution that will alleviate the person’s suffering and zip-up.

Why are you bothered if she doesn’t clean, cook or do house-chores but hires someone to do those? Struggle isn’t enjoyment. Allow people to talk about the conditions they face without making it about yourself.

Well, if you choose to keep participating in sufferhead olympics, here’s your medal already🏅🏅🏅.