The system is more powerful than the individual

This should have been more obvious to me growing up in Nigeria, but I’m only now internalising it. I recently found myself in a prolonged struggle with law enforcement. Young men on the path to success in certain industries inevitably encounter such, no matter how innocent you are.

One officer assigned to my case stood out. Though I mostly resented him, we connected more than I did with others. He studied mechanical engineering, valued intelligence, and tutored students in math. By coincidence, he attended the same school as my father and admired my father and his peers, whose achievements were still honoured there.

I realised he wasn’t evil but an average man trying to survive — educated, working at a better — paying government job, and providing for his family. Yet, he had little choice but to conform to the inefficiencies and questionable practices of public institutions. Nonconformity risked his job and ability to support his family.

The system compels conformity. Those who resist suffer financially and professionally. Conforming, frustrating as it is, becomes a means of survival. In different circumstances, he could have been a different person. Our conversations revealed glimpses of a brighter, more principled version of him.