There is a brutally efficient African proverb that cuts through political spin faster than a devaluation memo: When the wind blows, the chicken’s anus is exposed.
The High Wind and the Bare Hen: A Masterclass in Federal Disrobing by Lawson Akhigbe
The Monumental Ego: How Trump and Tinubu Turn Public Infrastructure Into Personal Billboards By Lawson Akhigbe
There was a time when nations had the decency to wait until a leader was safely six feet under or at the very least, out of office before plastering their name across state infrastructure. The unspoken rule of public memorials used to be simple: let history render its verdict first. If your legacy survived the passage of time without decaying into scandal, perhaps the state would name a secondary school or a modest bypass after you.
The Diminishing Deal: When Trump Demands the Whole Field and Settles for the Square Metre He’s Already Standing On by Lawson Akhigbe
Donald Trump wanted Greenland. Not in the quiet, diplomatic, “let’s explore strategic interests over aquavit and polite nods” manner that grown-up nations occasionally attempt. No. He wanted it the way a toddler wants the biggest toy in the shop window: loudly, immediately, and with zero regard for the fact that it already belongs to someone else.
There are lies, damn lies, and then there is the eternal Home Office press release – updated for the age of Blue Labour, Tory one-upmanship and Reform UK’s five-year fantasy. By Lawson Akhigbe
Yet the political theatre continues as if the data never arrived. Immigration remains the ultimate litmus test, the issue on which every faction must prove its manhood by sounding harsher than the last.
The Ancient Art of Buying Silence: How Rulers Have Always Turned Critics into Courtiers by Lawson Akhigbe
Political co-optation is not a Nigerian invention. It is one of the oldest and most elegant tools in the authoritarian toolkit far more refined than the crude business of jailing poets or shooting journalists. Why break a man’s spirit when you can simply rent it? Offer him a title, a salary, a motorcade, and watch the moral thunder turn into polite applause. History is littered with the wreckage of principles that met a well-timed appointment.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 