Centre for Nigeria Progress

There is a comforting lie societies tell themselves during war: that conflict is about ideals—territory, sovereignty, justice, survival. It sounds noble. It reads well in communiqués. It justifies sacrifice. But beneath the speeches and slogans lies a far less flattering reality: war is also an economy. And if you want to understand how that economy …

Continue reading "When War Becomes Business: From Biafra to Boko Haram by Lawson Akhigbe"

Nigeria Army Nigeria’s security crisis has become one of the most expensive in its history, yet the results remain painfully limited. Over the past decade, defence and security spending has expanded dramatically. In recent budgets, the sector has consistently received one of the largest shares of government expenditure. For example, Nigeria allocated roughly ₦3.1 trillion …

Continue reading "The Billions Spent on Security — and the Missing Results by Lawson Akhigbe"

There’s a certain irony in invoking Hungary as a cautionary tale for democratic backsliding, strongman politics, and the slow suffocation of institutions—because, if we’re being honest, the prototype has been quietly stress-tested in Lagos for over two decades.Call it federalism’s favourite loophole: build a state so politically airtight that it becomes a personal estate—complete with …

Continue reading "Hungary Happened in Lagos First by Lawson Akhigbe"

In any functioning democracy, the journey from idea to law is not supposed to be a stealth operation. A bill is introduced, it goes through readings, and—crucially—it arrives at the committee stage. That is the moment the doors are flung open (at least in theory), and citizens, experts, lobbyists, busybodies, and professional complainers are all …

Continue reading "Democracy by Ambush: When Laws Are Baked Without Tasting by Lawson Akhigbe"