Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second.
Every time a “nepo baby” pops up, landing a record deal at 19, starring in a movie their dad produced, launching a business with capital that appeared out of thin air, Nigerians start spiraling.
Screenshots, threads, comparisons to that one talented person “grinding since 2001 with no results.” The verdict is always the same: privileged, undeserving, overhyped.
But here’s the question nobody wants to sit with: are we actually angry about the privilege, or are we angry that we didn’t get some of it ourselves?
In a country where “who do you know” can matter more than what you know, nepotism isn’t some abstract talking point, it’s the literal difference between spending a decade clawing for a shot and walking into the room already holding the keys, record deals, movie roles, business capital, embassy connections, industry introductions, things ordinary people beg, network, and sometimes never get, nepo babies are handed by default.
Let’s also be fair, some nepo babies genuinely put in work.
They show up, they’re talented, they put in hours and still get dismissed the second people learn whose child they are, as if effort stops counting the moment you had a head start.
Nigerian discourse has a habit of flattening “had access” into “did absolutely nothing,” which isn’t always the truth.
If we’re being real, the outrage has nothing to do with the nepo baby at all, it’s frustration about our own stalled situation, our own “why not me,” projected onto whoever’s convenient.
It’s easier to drag a stranger online than to sit with the discomfort of our own stuck circumstances.
Did i lieeeee?
So, which is it?
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