"Wahala no dey finish" is the Nigerian acceptance of permanent crisis. It is said when another problem arrives before the last one is solved. When the car breaks after the rent is due. When the child gets sick after the salary is delayed. When the country adds a new policy after the last one failed. The phrase says: Problems are infinite. Energy is finite. Choose your battles. The doctrine is pragmatic. It prevents burnout. It teaches triage. The Nigerian who tries to solve every problem simultaneously breaks. The Nigerian who accepts "wahala no dey finish" survives. They fix what they can. They endure what they cannot. They wait for the next crisis with the patience of a farmer waiting for rain. But the cynicism! If wahala never finishes, why try to fix anything? Why protest? Why vote? Why hope? The doctrine can become defeatism. It can justify inaction. It can make the permanent crisis feel inevitable rather than constructed. And the resilience! Despite everything, Nigerians keep trying. The wahala does not finish, but neither do we. The problems are infinite, but so is the capacity to endure them. That is the miracle. Do you believe "wahala no dey finish"? And has it made you resilient, or has it made you passive?
