Nigerians Hope It Will Get Better, but Will It?

20 April 2016
editorial

E go beta. This Nigerian phrase, meaning "it will get better", equates to a survival strategy in a country where life for the majority can prove back-breakingly hard. Several songs produced by Nigerian musicians in the past decade evoke the saying. Some connect it to the tribulations of daily life in a country bursting with resources but broken by the powerful who have squandered or stolen them.

In his 2010 version, rapper eLDee describes the frustration with the government's failure to provide basics: water, electricity, education and fuel. "It's been about 50 years of this struggle, been a long time we been on this hustle," he croons by candlelight in the video. "This kind system, e no sustainable, it is not sustainable."

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