Pastor Femi Lazarus Warns Nigerians Against Accepting Poor Governance as Normal

Popular Nigerian pastor, Femi Lazarus, has cautioned Nigerians against becoming accustomed to poor governance and gradually accepting undesirable conditions as normal.

Lazarus, while speaking on the state of democracy in Nigeria, said that citizens’ perception of government performance is often shaped by what they have been exposed to and have come to accept over time.

He argued that when people are repeatedly presented with small benefits or improvements, they may initially resist them but could eventually internalise them as their standard and identity.

According to him, this gradual conditioning can make people not only grateful for what they receive but also willing to defend the system responsible for providing it.

“What we are practising now in Nigeria is called democracy. If you feel the government is not doing bad, you’re the one who feels so, and you’re feeling so because of what you know,” Lazarus said.

He added that consistent exposure to limited benefits could influence citizens’ expectations and perception of governance.

“If you present small things in front of those people consistently, at first they will hate it, then eventually it becomes their identity. Then when you give it to them, they will be grateful. They will move from gratitude to even fight for it and defend it,” he said.

Lazarus likened the phenomenon to a situation in which oppressed people become attached to those who control them, warning that such conditioning could ultimately lead them to resist the prospect of freedom.

“It’s the reason why slaves fall in love with their slave masters. It will get to a point where they will defend it and not want to be free,” he added.