One of the great mysteries of Nigerian politics is the remarkable journey politicians undertake between the words "I want nothing" and the phrase "I am honoured to accept."
The Man Who Wanted Nothing By Lawson Akhigbe
THE SUSPENSION HABIT: WHEN A GOVERNOR FORGETS WHAT A COMMISSIONER IS By Lawson Akhigbe
Suspension is a civil service instrument. It exists to protect an officer's rights while an allegation is tested, precisely because civil servants have due process protections built around tenure and pension. Commissioners have no such tenure to protect, because they were never promised any. Subjecting them to the ritual of suspension does not protect them it borrows the aesthetics of bureaucratic discipline and drapes them over an office that was never meant to carry that indignity.
Welcome to Nigeria: Where Premium Security is a Myth and Survival is a Sport by Lawson Akhigbe
Whether you are in your living room, a classroom, a place of worship, or just trying to navigate a highway without praying for divine intervention, lives are being lost to blood-thirsty bandits. Thomas Hobbes once described life in the state of nature as "short and brutish." If he were alive today, he’d probably look at Nigeria and say, "See? I told you so."
The Presidential Echo Chamber: From Buhari’s Attack Dogs to Tinubu’s Spin Doctors By Lawson Akhigbe
Daniel Bwala One of the easiest ways to understand a President is not to listen to his speeches. Listen to his spokesmen. A President’s spokesman is like a family portrait hanging in the living room. It may not be the President himself, but it tells you everything about the owner of the house. Spokesmen do …
The EFCC’s Selective Deafness: When ‘Naira Abuse’ Meets Political Convenience by Lawson Akhigbe
Of course not. Tompolo did not fly to Abuja; Abuja knows better than to disturb the peace of Oporoza. In Tompolo's case, the EFCC suddenly discovered a highly sophisticated, deeply sensitive legal tool known as prosecutorial discretion. This is the common-sense power of law enforcement to say: "Yes, technically a rule was broken, but pursuing this would be silly, counterproductive, or trivial."
Centre for Nigeria Progress 