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Speaker Edo State House of Assembly Blessing Sheriff Agbebaku How Governors Became Kings and Assemblies Became Yes-people. Ah, the “rubber stamp” that delightful term in Nigeria’s democratic theatre, where lawmaking meets the executive like a eager intern stamping “APPROVED” on every memo. Far from a harmless office gag, it’s a glowing indictment of institutional surrender. …
Continue reading "The Persistent Comedy of “Rubber Stamp” Legislatures in Nigeria by Lawson Akhigbe"
There is an eternal, almost Newtonian law of modern politics: wherever a politician loudly proclaims they are "standing up for the forgotten working man," you will inevitably find a discreet corner table in a private Mayfair club where someone is eagerly trying to launder foreign money.
The slogan gained prominence in the aftermath of the Birmingham pub bombings and the subsequent conviction of six Irish men the now infamous Birmingham Six. Their case quickly became a lightning rod for allegations of coerced confessions, police misconduct, and a justice system more interested in closure than correctness.
There are some moments in political history that survive long after the politicians involved have left office. Not because of a great speech. Not because of a great policy. But because somebody asked a very simple question and refused to let it escape through the nearest political fire exit.
Ambassador Yakubu Gambo did Nigeria the rare courtesy of telling the truth in public, which in the diplomatic trade counts as a small scandal in itself. Standing before Abike Dabiri-Erewa at NiDCOM’s Abuja headquarters, he confirmed what families of the detained have known for years without an official ever saying it plainly: Nigerians who have finished serving their Saudi jail terms remain locked up anyway, held hostage to fines they cannot pay and a government that has not worked out how to pay them either. He framed it as a welfare concern, a matter for coordination and consolidation of diaspora associations under one umbrella. It is, more accurately, a description of a state that has run out of leverage and is calling the shortfall a strategy.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 