Sulaiman Aledeh's Ground Zero: Why Nigeria often struggles to become all it can be...

sulaiman ALEDEH

Twenty-four hours ago, I arrived at Ground Zero. Not a place of defeat. Not a place of surrender. A place of reckoning.

I came into a system with something. I left with nothing—because I poured everything I had into it. My energy. My experience. My ideas. My conviction. My time.

And in the process, I learned a few uncomfortable lessons about why Nigeria often struggles to become all it can be.

Too often, those who build are discarded when the building is complete. Too often, loyalty is rewarded with suspicion, while mediocrity and opportunism find protection.

Too often, people are encouraged to take what they can because they fear that honest labour will ultimately go unrewarded.

But Ground Zero is not the end. Ground Zero is where rebuilding begins.

It is the point after the storm has passed and the dust has settled. The point where illusions disappear and reality stands naked before you.

The point where pain becomes perspective and betrayal becomes instruction.

Like the weather, change does not always arrive gently. Some seasons cool the skin; others leave scars. This season has done both.

Yet here I stand. Wiser. Stronger. Clearer.

I carry the lessons, especially those about trust, loyalty, and the true nature of people. I have learned that faithfulness is rare, and that sometimes the loyalty of a dog exceeds the loyalty of many humans.

But I refuse to become bitter. Ground Zero is not where my story ends.

It is where the next chapter begins.

And this time, I build again—better, stronger, wiser, and with my eyes wide open.