Qualitative philosophical analysis reveals institutional drivers of scarcity and citizen coping mechanisms in Nigeria, highlighting that celebrating resilience risks normalizing systemic failure.
It is paradoxical that Nigeria has abundant natural resources and human capital alongside poverty, weak institutions, and recurring socioeconomic crises. This situation disappoints citizens while continually fuelling hope. Thus, this paper analyses the political philosophy of despair and hope in Nigeria’s economy of scarcity. Methodologically, this work is conceptual and qualitative, applying Ernst Bloch’s theory of hope alongside Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy to empirical data on governance, poverty, the economy, and youth migration in Nigeria. It appears that scarcity in Nigeria results from institutional creation, not a lack of resources, and that while citizens demonstrate resilient attitudes toward scarcity through informal connections, entrepreneurship, and migration, romanticizing such resilience would normalize institutional failure and structural inequality.
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Akerele et al. (2026) studied this question.
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