LONDON — From New York cafés to Paris boardrooms, a new word is being whispered about Nigerians abroad: MODEN — Members Of the Debt Nation.
The label, coined by foreign commentators, reflects Nigeria’s mounting debt crisis but lands hardest on the diaspora, who already shoulder billions in remittances every year.
In Toronto, a banker joked that “MODENs send money faster than central banks move interest rates.” In Johannesburg, a headline in Their blogs bluntly read: “Nigeria’s Diaspora: MODEN on Arrival.”
For many Nigerians overseas, the term cuts deep. “I send money home every month — for my mother’s medicine, my nephew’s school fees,” said Adaeze Okonkwo, a nurse in Manchester. “Now they’ve turned us into a punchline.”
Back home, the word has begun to circulate in hushed conversations. In Lagos, people laugh bitterly when they hear it; in Abuja cafés, students argue over whether the diaspora should embrace or reject the label.
Analysts abroad see numbers. But for Nigerians — both at home and away — MODEN is not just an acronym. It is a reminder that debt is not only measured in dollars, but in sacrifices: sleepless shifts, missed milestones, and entire lives lived on two fronts.