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Godswill Akpabio There is a particular kind of Nigerian comedy that requires no jokes, only a calendar. Take a recent entry: on a Tuesday in late June, the Delta State House of Assembly solemnly declared the seat of Hon. Collins Egbetamah vacant, three months after he left the All Progressives Congress for the Nigeria Democratic …
"Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former Governor of Rivers State, stands out in Nigerian politics as a bold, combative, and highly strategic operator. His recent dominance in PDP internal court battles—securing roughly 14 out of 15 favorable rulings in analyzed cases—has drawn attention to what the article satirically terms the 'Abuja advantage' and 'judicial hospitality': leveraging control over prime land, infrastructure projects, and judicial welfare schemes in the capital to create an environment where power, proximity, and perception intersect."
In the theatre of Nigerian political history, certain names dominate the marquee lights. Azikiwe got the airport. Awolowo got the statues. Ahmadu Bello got the reverence of an entire region. Tafawa Balewa got the tragedy of martyrdom. History, as usual, rewarded the dramatic and the deceased with suitable generosity. But lurking in the corridors of power, armed with elite connections, Savile Row suits, and the constitutional instincts of a man who had clearly read more than one law book, was Remilekun Fani-Kayode one of the First Republic's most sophisticated political operators, and one of its most thoroughly forgotten. Today, the Fani-Kayode name conjures images of fiery television appearances, combustible social media dispatches, and the particular rhetorical energy his son Femi brings to every available platform. But long before hashtags became a substitute for statesmanship, the elder Fani-Kayode was doing something considerably more difficult: trying to hold Nigeria together through elite negotiation in a federation that was, structurally speaking, a hostile inheritance dispute among suspicious cousins. He failed, as did everyone else. But the question he was asking how do you keep Nigeria together without anyone feeling cheated remains the one question no Nigerian government has successfully answered since independence.
Nigeria's culture of impunity, where laws are treated as optional and accountability is viewed as unnecessary, is a significant obstacle to its development. Despite a conviction by the Supreme Court in 1997 for a serious criminal offence, Bello Magaji was never imprisoned. He was instead pardoned by President Goodluck Jonathan and later appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Law at the American University of Nigeria. This case highlights the arbitrary nature of the legal system in Nigeria, where convictions are often disregarded and individuals with criminal records can rise to high positions.
Henry Seriake Dickson When Senator Henry Seriake Dickson stood before the microphones at the national convention of the newly minted Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) in Abuja, he spoke with the booming confidence of a seasoned political godfather. Proclaiming the NDC as his "baby" and welcoming opposition heavyweights into what he described as a new democratic …
Centre for Nigeria Progress 