Weekend Arena - Nigeria,A Land Of Wailers, Hailers And Wailing-Hailers

For those who do not know, coinages are an intrinsic part of life in Nigeria. It is an age-long affair. I have been living through so many funny ones. I can remember the days of ‘political impasse’, popularised by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential elections. 

Everything was described with that word, ‘impasse’ as a result. Then there was ‘owambe governors’, popularised by former President Obasanjo, OBJ while describing the London party hosted by socialite, Terry Waya (yes, the father of BBNaija’s Kiddwaya) for some Nigerian governors then. We have had ‘Oga at the Top, ‘There is God o’, ‘Inconclusive’, ‘Transmission-Transmission’ and lately, ‘Short Fuse’. Perhaps no Nigerian coinage is as blackmailing and dismissive as ‘wailers and hailers’.


Coined by the present presidential media team, it broadly classifies Nigerians into two camps: wailers and hailers. Once you are critical of President Muhammadu Buhari or any of his policies, his media handlers are quick to call you a ‘wailer’. They do so as a carryover of the 2015 with the intention of highlighting that the person is still bitter over the outcome of the election. Of course, you are automatically labeled a ‘Jonathanian’, those who are angry that all loopholes of looting money have been blocked. You are regarded as a lover of corruption, someone who cannot eke a living in a decent system that promotes competence and hard work. But those who are full of praises of the government, no matter how justified or otherwise are generously called ‘hailers’.


Hailers are those who will clap if a bag of rice sells at N100k, justifying it as a way of empowering local farmers, despite the fact that many farmers are unable to afford it. They create some imaginary rice mills and tell you it is a sign of agricultural revolution. When stories of corruption, involving government officials break, they are the ones who will tell you that corruption is fighting back. 

They go the extra mile to justify any hike in the prices of petrol and electricity and remind you that you are paying the right price for a brighter tomorrow. They are quick to point at Dangote Refinery and tell you it is a positive sign for the entire nation to be waiting indefinitely for one man, to build a refinery at an export processing zone, which technically would mean, exporting petrol back to us in Nigeria. Hailers would look at the skewed pattern of political appointment which has utter disregard for the constitutionally entrenched ‘federal character’ and tell you that in America, Donald Trump could appoint his son into his cabinet without any uproar. 

They would remind you that what matters is competence, without explaining why the readings of the competence-meter are filled with bigotry. With several prominent Nigerians currently calling for the restructuring of the nation to avert a break-up, hailers dismiss them as hate-mongers and tell you that Nigeria needs institutionalism, where key elements of government will tower above personal interests. 

They know how well Nigeria did during the first republic in spite of the little resources from the regions, but will tell you that any attempt to revert to regionalism would create regionalised problems larger than what Nigeria is facing. Hailers believe Nigerian youths who do not have a job are simply lazy to till the farms, without minding that the farmlands are infested with killers, masquerading as herders. 

They are ‘satisfied’ with the exchange rate and would not mind trekking from Lagos to Daura to celebrate it as a feat. When people talk about electoral reforms, hailers will remind you that PDP ruled for 16 years without giving it a thought, forgetting that this government was elected to be different from the PDP.

One thing however binds them together. On a closer look and scrutiny, many of them are either in government or be benefitting from the system…fatly o. But nobody is begrudging them for believing in what they believe. The ones I am bemused with are the new group I will prefer to call the wailing-hailers. They are ‘wailing’ inside and ‘hailing’ outside.



‘Wailing-hailers’ arose from the increasing economic frustration in the system. Actually, they believed Nigeria would become El Dorado post-2015. But things have consistently gone awry and they are ashamed of admitting it. Some of them hoped for political appointments or were even appointed before being dropped due to intrigues in politics. You will notice them on the social media space by their veiled posts. 

They will never come straight to state their stand. Fela, sang about them as ‘suffering and smiling’.

*LMAO...as usual this piece sums it up like none other!!!...Kudos to you Mr Ngozi