Detty December was never a government blueprint or a carefully sequenced tourism policy. It was a market accident—an explosion of Nigerian soft power driven by Afrobeats dominance, diaspora homecomings, nightlife innovation and Lagos’ raw, chaotic magnetism. In economic terms, it was a positive externality Nigeria did not plan for but benefitted from immensely. Airline load factors peaked, hotels recorded near-full occupancy, informal employment surged and foreign exchange inflows spiked at year-end. Industry estimates suggest Nigeria was capturing well over $1 billion annually in combined tourism, entertainment and hospitality spend during peak Decembers, a material contribution for an economy starved of non-oil FX. Yet just as Detty December began to resemble a scalable seasonal export, Nigeria started dismantling its own advantage through short-term greed, poor coordination and a collapse in value discipline.