Nigeria, June 1 -- It is often said that "Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world." This phrase has been repeated so often that it has become a global mantra. Headlines scream about 100 million Nigerians living below the poverty line, and that is indeed a crisis.

But in our collective obsession with this statistic, we are missing something far more powerful, far more urgent and far more hopeful.

Nigeria is not just the land of the poor. It is the home of 50 million economic warriors, men and women who spend between $11 and $110 every single day. These Nigerians are not depending on the government, the UN, or NGOs to survive. They are surviving and thriving in spite of the system.

They are the unsung middle class, Nigeria's silent e...