Nigeria in early 2021 was still grieving the losses it recorded after many of its youths died in what has stuck in time immemorial as the Lekki Toll Gate massacre, and so ever since that year, a World Happiness Report has been capturing the mood in the country and this week has come up with findings that tells just how sad Nigerians are in three years.

This year’s Gallup-gathered data considered six variables around health, social welfare and others in order to round up close to a figure, which summarises the emotions and feelings of a globe of Nigerians. 

Be it the young or the boomers among them, the stats aren’t favourable but there is one that shows more promise than the rest. So, what’s the reason for that?

Covid-19 Pandemic started the unexpected change that sent several Nigerians into a sinkhole they hoped they would have triumphed over by now, yet the struggle still goes on, although not smoothly, yet some expect it.

There have been remarkable changes over the past dozen years, especially in Africa, where for the continent as a whole the old were the least happy group in 24 of the 34 counties, reads part of the 2024 Happiness Report. 

At 60 years of age, the baby boomer population are mostly retirees looking to enjoy their pension but bottlenecks get in the way and lead to delay in paying them their benefits, which is frankly not appreciated. 

Unlike the boomers, young Nigerians somehow have it rosy. Due to their roles in engineering results in tech, millennials or Gen zers are paid well for their service and so do not have the hurdles that their parents, who are left with only their pension, have to deal with. 

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Although the economic problem Nigerians find themselves facing might have a wholesale feel to them being that inflation mostly affects global purchasing power right now. 

New targeted policies by the government would go a long way in alleviating the suffering and hence the mood that things might get better with formerly redundant crude oil refineries coming back to life. It is a long wait until 2025 when new data might confirm an improvement. 

While places like Nigeria might have been suffering setbacks, countries like Finland and the five remaining Nordic countries remain forever happy. Past results show them to be maintaining their consistency at the top of the board when it comes to their citizens’ feeling of satisfaction in the situations they find themselves. 

In Finland when a purse or bag has been lost, there is the high likelihood that the recovered item would be returned to the owner’s address if it had been provided somehow. Over there in Finland, the people are exceptionally delighted about holding the top position as the happiest country in earth. 

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.