In Nigeria, the legal framework explicitly criminalizes the payment of ransoms to kidnappers or terrorists.
Anatomy of Kidnapping: The Law and Enforcement by Lawson Akhigbe
Silence is Golden (Especially When It’s About Your Land) by Lawson Akhigbe
In most functional societies, those quaint places where governments occasionally remember they exist to serve rather than to frustrate, when a citizen submits an application requiring official action, a few basic courtesies are observed. An acknowledgment. A request for missing documents if needed. Perhaps even a timeline, however optimistic. The machinery of state, however rusty, at least coughs to confirm it has received your papers.
Black Holes in the Public Purse by Lawson Akhigbe
This is not an isolated comedy of errors. It is a textbook illustration of the black holes deliberately engineered into Nigeria’s public finance architecture opaque pockets that swallow money, evade legislative eyes, and render executives unaccountable. The Bodija tranche is merely one shiny pebble in a vast, dark galaxy of special interventions, contingency advances, service-wide votes, ecological funds, security “emergency” deductions, and other discretionary vehicles that allow the executive to move (or park) billions with minimal sunlight.
Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel)
The Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, popularly known as the Oputa Panel, remains one of the most significant yet controversial attempts at transitional justice in Nigeria's history.
Pius Okigbo Panel Report 2: The Sequel Nobody Asked For By Lawson Akhigbe
There are two kinds of students in life. The first studies history in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The second studies history carefully, identifies where the money was hidden, and repeats the exercise with greater efficiency.
