On the Sartorial Decline of the Nigerian Political Class: Monday Okpebholo, Yekini Idiaye, and the Wardrobe of Impunity By Lawson Akhigbe

Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State is a man who, on the evidence of a recent photograph shaking hands with new Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly Yekini Idiaye, appears to have mistaken the office of Chief Executive for a weekend errand run. A branded baseball cap. Clothing better suited to a beer parlour than a state formal meeting. Khaki trousers that suggest safari rather than sovereignty. This is not a man dressing down to meet the people. This is a man dressing as though the people are an inconvenience he is squeezing in between other appointments.

Trump’s Conspiracy Machine Comes Home to Roost By Lawson Akhigbe

A rumour becomes a scandal. A disagreement becomes a conspiracy. An inconvenient question becomes evidence of a plot. An opponent is not merely wrong, but corrupt, compromised, bought, controlled or secretly working for somebody else.

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."

The “Hero” of the Rubber Stamp: How Nigeria’s Separation of Powers Became a One-Man Show by Lawson Akhigbe

The Legislature does not check the Executive; it curtsies, takes notes, and asks the Executive what time it should pack its bags.

The Bulletproof SUV That Disappeared: What The Saraki / Customs Case Tells Ordinary Nigerians About Due Process by Lawson Akhigbe

What should have been a routine anti-smuggling enforcement - fake chassis number, alleged unpaid duty of N74 million on a vehicle valued at N298 million - turned into a full-blown constitutional crisis.