An interesting conversation about Nigeria between my dad & I.

I found myself celebrating a group of young Nigerians who built an electric car. It wasn’t just a passing interest, I genuinely felt proud. In a country where our headlines are often bleak, it felt good to see something that hinted at possibility.

But then my dad with the kind of blunt honesty only a Nigerian father can deliver hit me with a question:

“When a graduate is able to spell ABC, do you celebrate him?”

At first, I laughed. Then I paused. And then I realized, he wasn’t joking.

To him, praising these young people felt like clapping for the bare minimum.

Like applauding a country that calls itself the Giant of Africa for finally doing what the rest of the world has been doing for decades.

He was frustrated, not with the young people, but with how low the bar has become. And maybe, with how easily we accept it.

I told him, “It may be simple, but it’s still something to celebrate.”

Because the truth is, context matters.

Here’s what I wanted to say, and I did:

You don’t normally celebrate a graduate for spelling ABC. That’s fair.

But you do when the graduate is dyslexic.

Or when they grew up in an education system with broken desks, unpaid teachers, and constant strikes.

Or when they had to learn in darkness because NEPA failed again.

Or when their dreams were buried under economic hardship, insecurity, and zero institutional support.

Then yes, you celebrate.

Because it’s not about the ABC.

It’s about the journey to get there.

That’s what young Nigerians building an electric car represent.

Not just innovation, but resistance.

Not just progress, but possibility built with scrap parts, patched dreams, and a whole lot of hope.

Sometimes, I think this idea that Nigeria is the “Giant of Africa” is not just misleading, it’s diabolical.

We say it like a mantra.

As if repeating it will hide the fact that the so-called giant has stopped walking.

We are either fooling ourselves or performing greatness for a stage that knows better.

The only true giant I see is the one inside the people, the ones who still try, still build, still believe.

So no.

We’re not celebrating ABC.

We’re celebrating the fact that, despite the storms, someone still learned to write.

And in Nigeria, that alone is revolutionary.

If this resonates, share it with someone who still believes in small wins because sometimes, that’s how we find our way back to big ones.