Is Nigeria Worth Fighting For? A Reflection After Watching Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

I watched the Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti movie, and I was genuinely impressed. For the first time in a long while, I watched a Nigerian film without fast-forwarding. I was glued to the screen from beginning to end.

My brother-in-law and I sat together, and each scene took us back into history, not just as spectators, but as Nigerians who could feel the weight of every struggle portrayed. Every moment was a mirror, reflecting the sacrifices people made for this country.

Kehinde Bankole was phenomenal in her portrayal of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti; she was powerful, graceful, and deeply convincing. The entire cast was top-notch. Kudos to the producers, the writers, the directors, and everyone involved.

But as the credits rolled, I turned to my brother-in-law and said, “She died for a Nigeria that never worked.”

She lost her son to a country they were fighting to build; she gave her life to a dream that never materialised.
And today, we are still asking the same question:
Is Nigeria worth fighting for?

The Pain of Sacrifice Without Reward

When I look at the youth uprising of 2020, and how it ended in bloodshed, I feel the same ache.
The people responsible for those deaths are still in power.
The youth who said “No APC, No PDP” , many of them are now on the payroll of the same government they once opposed.
Some are defending the very system that crushed their voices.

So again I ask, Is Nigeria worth fighting for?
Because it seems you can die for this country, and be forgotten.
Your labour can be in vain; your sacrifice can be erased.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Obafemi Awolowo, and Nnamdi Azikiwe all gave their lives to a vision.
But look around.
Is Nigeria better today than it was then?
If anything, it’s worse.

Don’t Tell Me to Just Pray

People say, “Pray for Nigeria.”
But we have prayed.
We prayed in 2023 like never before.
We’ve prayed since before I was born.
Are we trying to make it seem like God doesn’t answer prayer?

The truth is, prayer without action is incomplete.
We are not collectively tired enough to fight the system.
The government infiltrates every movement, divides every voice, and ensures that unity never lasts.

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” — Mark 3:24

Even those abroad, instead of speaking truth to power, say things like “Nigeria is cheaper to live.”
You earn in dollars, then convert prices to naira and call it affordable.
If Nigeria is so cheap, come and live here.
Come and pay for light, water, data, and still be taxed heavily.

We generate our own electricity; we dig our own wells; we build our own roads, and still, the government taxes us mercilessly.

The Mindset That Keeps Us Bound

Someone goes to Ghana for vacation, and instead of enjoying the trip, they snap pictures of fuel prices and say, “Nigerians are enjoying.”
This mindset is part of the problem.

We can’t build the Nigeria of our dreams with this kind of thinking.
We need truth; we need unity; we need courage.

But instead, we have clergy who organize leadership conferences, then vote for the same corrupt leaders.
We have teachers who preach integrity, but support oppression.
We have campaigns that focus more on attacking opposition than holding the current government accountable.

A Country That Eats Its Youth

Minimum wage is ₦70,000.
From that, you pay transport, feed yourself, and somehow still afford rent.
Where is the money for basic living?

Nigeria is a country that eats its youth; a country that devours potential; a country that punishes hope.

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.” — Isaiah 10:1

And do you know how bad it’s gotten?
People are migrating to Iraq.
Yes, Iraq, a country that ended a war in 2011.
In 2025, we have a Nigerian Premier League player, fresh off a successful season, signing for a club in Iraq.
That’s how far we’ve fallen.

Someone said something recently that hit me hard:
“We’re almost in our 30s.”
And I ask, is this how we’re supposed to fade out?

My advice: if you have a way to leave this country, leave.
Because even the church is divided.
And as my spiritual father,Bishop David Bakare, once said,

“If the church is divided against itself, we will pay for it.”

Nigeria accounts for nearly 90% of persecuted Christians worldwide.
Imagine that.
Meaning, statistically, Christians in Iraq are safer than Nigerian Christians

God Bless Her Memory

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti tried.
She gave everything.
She believed in a Nigeria that never came to be.

And today, we mourn not just her death, but the death of a dream.

“The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain.” — Nigerian National Anthem

But right now, it feels like it is.

I raise my case.