Category: This, that and the other

Ai image At the Washington prayer breakfast—an event that now doubles as a stand-up comedy open mic—Donald J. Trump, prophet of chaos and patron saint of unintended satire, found time to give a short out (not a shout-out, because even praise must suffer budget cuts) to African dignitaries in the room. Among them was Remi …

Continue reading "Nigeria, Trump, and the Gospel According to Validation"

Nigeria has many ghost stories. Not the Halloween kind with creaking doors and dramatic music, but the far more disturbing type—stories where real people simply disappear, and the state, having played a starring role in the opening act, suddenly develops amnesia. One of the most chilling of these is the case of Gloria Okon. In …

Continue reading "Gloria Okon: When the Nigerian State Looked Away"

Nigeria land The Land Use Act. My position remains beautifully uncomplicated. Once land has been lawfully allocated to a citizen, only a court should have the power to decide whether it can be revoked on the grounds of “overriding public interest.” Not a Governor. Not a Governor’s cousin. Not a Commissioner who attended a weekend …

Continue reading "Land Use Act 1978, Governors and Revocations and Economic Growth in Nigeria by Lawson Akhigbe"

Bumper sticker History, when irritated, develops a sharp tongue. A minority once sailed into other people’s lands, drew borders with imperial indifference, renamed mountains, and installed themselves as the managerial class of entire continents. The model was perfected by the British Empire—a project so vast it required both a navy and a filing system. The …

Continue reading "The Coloniser Who Cried “Colonisation” Now With Billionaires by Lawson Akhigbe"