The government called it a technical hitch. It never explains what that means.

The federal government confirmed this week that February salaries for treasury-funded workers were delayed due to a "technical hitch." Payments have now commenced.

If you have family members who work for the federal government, you already knew this. Your phone told you before the press release did.

"Technical hitch" is Nigerian government language for: something went wrong, we're not going to explain what, we'd like you to move on quickly.

The salary came. It always comes eventually. But the pattern of opaque delays, vague explanations, and the assumption that workers should simply wait without complaint is itself a story about how the government relates to the people it employs.

For diaspora readers managing remittances: if your family's February was tight because a federal salary didn't arrive, it wasn't your math that was wrong.