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So far, so dazzling. We have been unchained from the desk, from the camera, from the petrol pump, and soon, apparently, from the steering wheel itself. Progress has been relentless, elegant, and profitable.
As Nigeria prepares to mark another Independence Day on 1 October, I have been reading a speech delivered on 31 December 1983 by a young Brigadier, Sani Abacha, announcing the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari.
the Doctrine of Necessity’s cheeky cousin: the 2008 Supreme Court blockbuster Rotimi Amaechi v. INEC & Ors. If Nigerian politics is a Nollywood script full of plot twists, this case was the director yelling “cut!” and rewriting the ending after the credits rolled.
A state begins to lose its authority when the law is formidable when dealing with the powerless but negotiable when dealing with the politically connected. Nigeria is increasingly flirting with precisely that danger.
The framers of the United States Constitution expected conflict. They expected ambition. They expected rivalry between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
