I first heard this statement on the 2025 Workers’ Day edition of The Platform Nigeria now Platform Africa, a national development initiative hosted by Pastor Poju Oyemade. During the public service session, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih Awokoya, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on SDGs, was rounding up her remarks when she said something that struck a deep chord. She said, and I quote:

“In this time where attention is currency, focus becomes a form of resistance.”

It wasn’t just a passing quote, it was a lens through which to view the world we live in today.

Attention Is the New Currency

We often think of currency as money, paper bills or digital numbers in a bank account. But in our current digital economy, attention is the true currency. Just like fiat money, which has value because society agrees it does, your attention now holds value because tech companies, advertisers, and platforms profit from it.

The more attention you give, the more valuable you become not as a consumer, but as the product. Likes, views, clicks, and shares aren’t free. They’re traded in exchange for your time, your data, your behavior.

Fiat money is regulated and can be inflated or devalued. Likewise, when your attention is spread thin across endless reels, newsfeeds, and notifications, its value to you begins to diminish even as its value to others increases.

Distraction Is Designed. Focus Is Resistance.

Social platforms are built to distract albeit inherently profitable for the dissemination of content and ideas, notifications ping not because they’re important, but because they’re effective. Algorithms are engineered to keep you scrolling, not to inform or empower you. In this world, choosing to focus is more than a personal discipline,  it’s a radical choice.

Focus becomes a form of resistance because it reclaims control. It pushes back against systems that monetize your mind and attention. In a culture where speed, reaction, and dopamine hits dominate, focus allows for depth, clarity, and independent thinking.

You Are the Product

This is the hard truth: if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product. Your scrolling habits, your preferences, even your idle moments are being sold to the highest bidder. And the real cost? Your time, your mental space, your creative energy.

This is why what you give your attention to matters. Every moment of attention is a vote,  for a certain kind of world, for a certain kind of value.

Choosing Focus in a Noisy World

To resist doesn’t always mean to protest loudly. Sometimes, it’s as simple and powerful as:

• Turning off notifications
• Reading a book instead of scrolling
• Praying and harnessing spiritual energy
• Spending an hour on deep work without distractions
• Asking yourself, “Is this worth my attention?”

In doing so, you’re not just being productive. You’re pushing back against a system designed to fragment your mind and trade your attention for profit.

Final Thought

Dr. Awokoya’s words remind us that focus is not just a skill, it’s a stance. In a time where attention is being commodified, focus becomes an act of defiance, of purpose, and of freedom.

And in reclaiming it, we also reclaim ourselves.

Chijioke Oji

Education Architect