The Baby Boomer ‘Python’ That Swallowed Nigeria’s Economic Future
By Aboki Forex —
In 1974, New York Times humorist Russell Baker described a ‘pig in the python’ working through America’s economy. The bulge was 76 million Baby Boomers. They squeezed through every part of the system. They distorted everything they passed.
When Boomers flooded the labour market in the 1970s, they created a competitive squeeze that never fully released. The generations behind them did not get the wage rebound economists had predicted. When Boomers bought homes, prices soared. When they took the top jobs in business, culture and civic life, they held them. And held them. And held them.
Nigeria faces a similar python. Our own bulge of young people is now entering a labour market already choked by older generations who refuse to let go of power and opportunity. The result is not just a wage gap. It is a structural block on mobility. Young Nigerians are squeezed out of housing, jobs and leadership positions. The python is still moving. But for those behind it, the passage has become a dead end.