The Personal Sector: The Tiny Favours Quietly Killing Our Future
You’ve seen this movie before.
You arrive early. You take a number. You sit and wait.
Someone walks in an hour later, greets the security man, mentions one familiar name and walks straight past you. Ten minutes later, their file is stamped and they’re gone.
No fight. No drama. Just one more day of “my person” winning.
We often talk about the public sector (government) and the private sector (business). But there is a third sector that quietly decides how a lot of life in Nigeria works.
I call it the Personal Sector.
In the personal sector, decisions are not based on rules, merit or process, but on personal ties:
Who is “my person”.
Who can “speak to someone” for me.
Who owes who a favour.
Queues become suggestions. Policies become background noise. Institutions become stage props. The real action is in the DMs, the WhatsApp chats and the quiet phone calls.
On the surface, it looks like harmless kindness: a small push here, a small exception there. In reality, the personal sector is quietly working against the future many young professionals say they want.
Why the personal sector feels reasonable
Before we condemn it, let’s be honest about why it’s so tempting.
Most of us grew up with:
Weak services: you can’t rely on systems to work if “nobody knows you”.
Precarious lives: one admission, one job, one contract can change a family’s story.
Leaders who reward loyalty over competence: so “connections” feel like the only real currency.
In that world, the logic of the personal sector feels rational:
“If I don’t help my own, who will?”
“Why should my friend stand in line when I can help?”
“This one is just a small thing, it’s not real corruption.”
But here is the trap:
What feels rational at the level of one favour becomes destructive at the level of a whole society.
A few lies that keep the personal sector alive
If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a few recurring justifications:
1️⃣ “If I don’t help my own, who will?”
Helping people is not the problem. The problem is how we help.
There is a difference between helping someone prepare properly… and calling the panel to bend the process.
2️⃣ “This is how things are done; it’s not really corruption.”
Corruption is simply using entrusted power for private benefit.
When we jump queues, swap candidates or quietly waive rules for “our people”, that is exactly what we are doing – even if it’s wrapped in culture, loyalty or tribe.
3️⃣ “My small bend won’t change anything.”
Systems are built from accumulated small decisions.
Your choice may not change Nigeria overnight, but it always changes you, and it always contributes to the direction your corner of the world is moving.
How the personal sector harms young professionals
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, the personal sector doesn’t just harm “the system”. It harms you directly:
It makes an honest effort feel stupid.
It turns every opportunity into a hustle instead of a fair contest.
It punishes those who refuse to play dirty.
It quietly denies you the kind of country and workplace you say you want.
If every big decision depends on who knows who, people invest more in working the room than in mastering their craft. That’s bad for everyone, especially for those with talent but no “plug”.
So what can one person do?
You may not be a minister or a CEO, but you do control how you show up inside the personal sector.
Here are two simple commitments that define what I call The Integrity Generation:
1️⃣ One “personal sector” habit to retire
Pick one behaviour you’ll stop doing. For example:
No more calling to jump queues for yourself or others.
No more asking friends in HR to sneak CVs straight to the final shortlist.
No more “quick signatures” on documents you know haven’t followed process.
2️⃣ One way to help people without breaking the system
Helping people is still important. But instead of pushing them ahead of others, try:
Sharing information on when and how to apply properly.
Helping them prepare (for interviews, exams, pitches).
Introducing them to mentors, not gate-crashers.
Supporting them to meet requirements instead of lowering the standard.
That way, you are still loyal and supportive – but in ways that strengthen institutions instead of weakening them.
Joining The Integrity Generation
If you’ve ever:
Sat in a waiting room and watched “my person” walk by,
Lost an opportunity to someone less qualified but better connected,
Or felt that “you have nobody behind you”…
then you already know why this matters.
The Integrity Generation is not a perfect club of saints. It is a growing community of young professionals who want to be street-smart and straight at the same time.
If this resonates with you, here’s a small challenge for the week:
👉 Name one personal-sector habit you’re involved in (your own, or one you benefit from).
👉 Decide whether you will retire it, or keep feeding it.
👉 If you’re willing, drop a comment: what’s one “tiny favour” you now see differently?
That’s how a different future starts – not with speeches, but with the way we handle the next “small favour” that comes our way.
