Tag: Constitution

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The Alibi of Antiquity: Tinubu, Hunger, and the Diplomacy of Shrugging by Lawson Akhigbe

Nobody disputes the premise. Hunger did, in fact, predate Bola Tinubu, in the same sense that gravity predated Isaac Newton. The trouble is what the premise is being asked to do. It is not offered as background. It is offered as an alibi, the rhetorical equivalent of a defendant telling the court that crime existed before he was born, and therefore he cannot reasonably be expected to account for the burglary. The doctrine of necessity has been stretched to cover many things in Nigerian constitutional history; this may be the first time it has been invoked to cover a grocery bill.

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From Oba Drama to British Real Estate

For the next century Lagos was the prize: capital of the Colony and Protectorate, then of independent Nigeria until Abuja stole the crown in 1991. Herbert Macaulay turned it into the cradle of Nigerian nationalism. The Action Group under Awolowo made it the Western Region’s intellectual and political headquarters. Meanwhile the federal government and the regions fought over whether Lagos belonged to the West or to everyone. Spoiler: everyone wanted a piece of the port, the money, and the prestige.

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The Invisible Invasion: Britain’s Immigration Panic and the Arithmetic It Cannot Face By Lawson Akhigbe

Black people account for roughly four percent of the population of England and Wales. More of them are in the EastEnders cast than are arriving on the asylum route in any given year. Yet Britain has contrived to make this the defining political question of the age. We should talk about that.

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The People Did Vote for Mass Immigration – Through Parliament by Lawson Akhigbe

One of the most persistent slogans of Britain’s political far right is the claim that “the people did not vote for mass immigration.” It is a phrase repeated endlessly in television studios, social media posts, and political rallies. It sounds persuasive. It sounds democratic. It is also fundamentally wrong.

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The Art of the Unsolicited Ass-Kiss: Understanding Nigeria’s “Eye Service” Economy by Lawson Akhigbe

In the United States, corporate culture has a colorful vocabulary for the hyper-sycophant: the brown-noser, the bootlicker, the corporate shill. But in Nigeria, this behavior isn't just a personality trait of that one annoying guy in middle management. It is a highly sophisticated, deeply institutionalized standard operating procedure known colloquially as "Eye Service."

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