Nigeria Ranks 7th in Global Friendliness to Strangers, but Trust in Police Remains Low
Nigeria has been ranked the seventh friendliest country to strangers globally, according to the 2025 World Happiness Report released Monday.
The report, compiled by Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre in collaboration with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, assessed 147 countries using indicators such as life satisfaction and prosocial behaviour—including helping strangers, volunteering, and charitable giving.
Despite this global recognition for kindness to strangers, Nigeria placed a much lower 105th in overall happiness, reflecting long-standing issues around life satisfaction and weak public institutions.
The disparity in institutional trust was particularly evident in responses to a wallet recovery scenario. Nigerians were more confident a stranger would return a lost wallet than a police officer. Nigeria ranked 33rd for return likelihood by a stranger, 71st if found by a neighbour, and a dismal 126th if found by the police.
“Where institutional structures are weak, helping strangers likely becomes the most direct and effective form of benevolence,” the report stated.
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The data also revealed Nigeria’s similarities with countries such as Liberia, Jamaica, and Ukraine—nations marked by strong interpersonal trust but fragile systems.
Nigeria also ranked 45th globally in charitable donations, reinforcing the theme of strong community-level generosity despite systemic deficiencies.
While public trust in institutions remains low, the report highlights a continuing pattern of Nigerians turning to one another for support—an informal resilience that sustains daily life in the face of faltering governance.
