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.
DANGOTE REFINERY IPO: WHAT ₦525 REALLY MEANS BEFORE YOU SUBSCRIBE
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE is offering 4.1 billion new ordinary shares at ₦525 each. The minimum subscription is 10 shares, costing ₦5,250.
Edo State Moribund Local Governments — The Glorified Cashier by Lawson Akhigbe
The narrative above is replicated across the 774 local governments in Nigeria. The Supreme Court judgment on Local Government financial autonomy remains iced over in practice. State governors continue to treat local councils as administrative subsidiaries rather than an autonomous arm of government.
How the Political Right Plans to Square the Circle at Charing Cross Hospital (Spoiler: They Don’t) by Lawson Akhigbe
Charing Cross Hospital sits in that peculiar West London sweet spot where the average house price has long since waved goodbye to the million-pound mark and is now busy collecting gold medals in the “how high can we go” Olympics. The surrounding streets are a parade of desirable postcodes, glossy estate agent boards, and the quiet confidence of people who regard a £1.2 million two-bed as a “starter home” if you squint hard enough and ignore the service charge.
Austerity: Britain’s Longest-Running Political Fancy Dress by Lawson Akhigbe
There is an old British habit that refuses to die. When the public finances look awkward, someone reaches for the national costume box, pulls out the Union Jack, and declares that the only patriotic course is to ask the people with the least to tighten their belts a little more. The word of the hour is always “austerity.” The justification is always necessity. The result is almost always the same.

