Feb 23What is really important?It’s sad but unsurprising that the EiE Nigeria-SBM Intelligence report from last week, which forecasted the possible outcome of this weekend’s elections, identified the declining interest in down-ballot elections among the Nigerian population. When we were in the field, ALL respondents we met, and we met 11,534 of them, had…Nigeria4 min readNigeria4 min read
Feb 13Quick one on 13 FebruaryOn Freshly Pressed this morning, two stories caught my eye. The first one is from The Nation, and reading it makes me wonder why they even bothered to print it and why the reporter did not ask the Deputy High Commissioner any questions. Now, the UK’s rep is saying that…Nigeria2 min readNigeria2 min read
Jan 27On colonialismWhat follows is my response to a group of friends about whether European colonialism was a net benefit to Africans. It’s a topic worth exploring in greater detail than my initial response on a WhatsApp group… This is a double-edged question. Overall, I think the impact of the coming of…Africa4 min readAfrica4 min read
Jan 24On fuel scarcitiesOn 18 January 2015, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke announced a fuel price reduction that took the retail cost from ₦97 to ₦87 and explained that the price drop was occasioned by the drop in crude oil prices in the international market. …Nigeria4 min readNigeria4 min read
Jan 16Quick one on 16 JanuaryTwo quick ones to talk about following today’s Freshly Pressed. First, the story in ThisDay: The Presidential Candidate of G-5 Governors. I don’t think this is a news story, so I berated the producer for including it for us. It is an opinion piece, and we shouldn’t be analysing opinions…Nigeria3 min readNigeria3 min read
Jan 6Quick one on the real electionThere has been a lot of recrimination on Twitter due to the musician, Brymo’s misguided tweets. …Nigeria2 min readNigeria2 min read
Dec 30, 2022The coming year“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied: ‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.’” — Minnie Louise Haskins We could say…20234 min read20234 min read
Dec 22, 2022Rebuilding the security architectureMy latest column in Financial Nigeria concerns the complex and changing security challenges afflicting our continent. You can read it in full here. Using Nigeria as an example, the police are meant to address internal security concerns, while the military is responsible for protecting our territory, citizens, and interests from…Nigeria2 min readNigeria2 min read
Dec 15, 2022Quick one on 15 DecemberI was back on the radio today with Shopsy, and two stood out among the stories we talked about. The first one, from Guardian Nigeria, talked about the scale of oil theft. The first question here is, “what is Nigeria’s elite”? Because that question is what determines responsibility. If we…Nigeria3 min readNigeria3 min read
Dec 8, 2022Quick one on 8 DecemberThis morning on Freshly Pressed with Shopsy, we talked about the Reuters investigation on the forced abortions by the Nigerian Army. I found the reaction of pretty much all the listeners to the show this morning instructive: unalloyed support for the army’s actions, and that speaks to how socially conservative…Nigeria3 min readNigeria3 min read
