Argument and perspective from academics, practitioners, researchers, and informed writers. Opinion pieces represent the views of their authors, not an institutional position of the publication or the Center.
If Nigeria is to break this destructive cycle, we must transition from what Nietzsche termed “reactive” history to a critical history — a deliberate practice that scrutinises past structural failures, disarms historical grievances, and prioritises civic nation-building over score-settling…
The loss of 37 lives in state custody is a grave indictment of public safety standards. Setting up a panel is not an achievement. The measure of true leadership lies in unyielding structural reform, state level accountability, and uncompromising prosecution.
Serious governance cannot coexist with such superficiality when there are real problems to solve. It is high time we weaned ourselves of useless colonial and bureaucratic practices that add no value to the country.
We currently have no binding, AI-specific statute. While the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 exists, it governs what happens to data, not what complex AI systems do with it.
My vote will go to the candidate who commits to delivering at least 70 per cent of the following blueprint reform within a strict five-year tenure.
Pouring endless funds into an unoptimised framework is not a long-term strategy. It has become critically urgent to fundamentally restructure our security apparatus.
For the Nigeria Police to truly fulfil its mandate, it is essential to create an environment in which merit and professionalism are consistently rewarded, rather than allowing patronage and favouritism to dictate advancement and responsibility.
A public official should be legally and physically bound to the nation s/he is serving. The knowledge that one cannot simply escape to a second home in the event of legal scrutiny serves as a powerful deterrent against malpractice.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stands at the very heart of Nigeria’s enduring system of corruption. It is not merely a referee that occasionally misses a foul; it has become the primary enabler of public sector corruption.
An open letter to the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission proposing a strategic agenda for the regulation and enforcement of political party finance as a means of curbing public sector corruption.
Drawing on the wisdom of Aristotle, “Whatever lies within our power to do lies also within our power not to do.” We pray that we may be spared the guilt on the Day of Judgment, particularly for the transgression of stealing from orphans and for our many other wrongs.
The Nigerian Local Government Integrity Index is not just a report; it is a call to conscience.
We are indeed losing precious lives, but we are losing them to terrorism, banditry, and communal conflicts fuelled by poor governance, not a coherent government-backed campaign to wipe out one religion.
The narrative we must embrace is simple, clear, and unyielding: the final victory, cemented by the UK Supreme Court’s ruling, belongs squarely to the EFCC, led by the determined Magu, and ably supported by dedicated officers like Sanga, Babangida, Abba…
It is right, and just, to fight for workers’ rights. But the legitimacy of that fight is inextricably linked to the integrity of those who are fighting. Nigerians are looking at the fighters and seeing their past.
The solution lies in building a robust framework through which public officials are held responsible for their actions, outcomes matter more than process, and the culture of impunity is replaced by that of transparency and responsibility.
Beyond the numbers, the most compelling argument for electronic voting lies in its potential to transform the political culture and compel leaders to perform.
In a quietly assertive move, the Government of Kenya issued a directive on June 5, 2025, mandating all principal secretaries, heads of state corporations, and procuring entities to transition fully to an electronic procurement (e-GP) system by June 10.
The fixation on military solutions, while sometimes necessary in the short term, risks treating the symptoms rather than the underlying disease. We are about 14 years into insurgency and decades in terms of other security challenges.
It should be stated that while anti-corruption efforts should focus on entrenching preventive mechanism, Nigeria’s asset recovery efforts hold immense potential if recovered loot are properly channeled.
This tide of illicit wealth washing through Abuja’s real estate demands that the relevant agencies resist the insidious embrace of ‘capture’ that renders them impotent.
To break the cycle of insecurity that plagues our nation, we must depoliticise our security system and appoint people with the requisite expertise and skills, who citizens can trust, into crucial roles in the system.
How has President Tinubu’s nepotistic appointments stopped these governors from addressing issues of the Multidimensional Poverty Index of health, food insecurity, education and living standards?
The success of LG reform will not be determined in courtrooms or boardrooms — it will be won or lost in communities. Citizens must evolve from passive victims of misgovernance to active auditors of their local institutions.
Simplifying bureaucratic procedures, and boosting operational efficiency could make a Nigerian adaptation of DOGE highly impactful. Such an approach could revolutionise security, bolster the economy, and improve governance.
Instead of those with capacity to form alliances, we want to join the wagon of vilifying some who have lived the best part of their lives, with huge risks, productively serving the country.
No father should want to leave debts for his poor children. Let us remind Oga Femi, again, that President Obasanjo met the country’s external debt at $28 billion and left it at $2 billion; President Umaru Yar’Adua subsequently left it at $2.6 billion…
The ethical dilemma centres on the expectation of achieving quality education when public officers are relocating their children and families abroad. This issue extends beyond education to encompass healthcare as well.
None of the states is performing well in terms of employment, industrialisation, education, healthcare, and other socio-economic indicators, primarily due to public sector corruption.
Despite the myriad security challenges facing Nigeria, data indicates that, aside from the high incidences in 2021— which the Emir addressed vocally and proactively — the Zazzau Emirate has not been significantly afflicted by banditry and kidnappings in recent years.
Now what should a responsible state do when it is threatened to this level? All the malevolent actors involved should be tagged as agents of treason, and the state should treat them as such, by every legal means available.
Until the impact of corruption outweighs concerns around national interest, countries are unlikely to take serious measures on it. So what do we do?
So far in the year, states have received N379.41 billion, N366.950 billion, N398.689 billion and N403 billion as statutory allocations from FAAC for January, February, March and April respectively, amounting to a total of N1.548 trillion disbursement to…
The consolidation effort laid out should be actively pursued to bolster national security, but its execution must be efficient and strategic.
A critical aspect that appears to elude the administration’s grasp is the imperative of waste reduction and relentless battle against corruption.
On the day of the book launch, Seun Okinbaloye of Channels TV tried to ask some hard questions regarding the administration’s tenure, because he was probably wondering what the content of the book would be.
It is widely speculated in informed circles that all the people who were involved in the heist are known but nothing has been done to bring them to account for their active participation in the organised crime.
Until the process of vying for political office is reformed by reducing the expenses involved, with the perquisites of public office sanitised, alongside the curbing of the other attractions of political office, every chairman of EFCC will be brought down…
In principle, subsidy is not bad as some have been made to believe. It’s a requisite for economic growth and development.
With a debt profile of N77 trillion, Nigeria is the sixth largest recipient of Chinese loans in the continent.
Verse on the refineries that were never repaired, the maintenance funds that were never spent as intended, and the subsidy that was never what it seemed.
As I listened to all the speakers, one thing was clear, as usual: that all our problems are well documented and analysed. I also think that all the varieties of solutions are well documented.
A 2022 analysis of figures from the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) by a Punch newspaper report puts the severance package for President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, state governors and other political appointees leaving office this month at N63.45bn.
If they diligently distribute every dime of the $800 million at the exchange rate of N750 to the dollar, each recipient will receive just $16/N12,000 each!
In the week that Nigerians await the outcome of its presidential election, the dominant news in the U.S., the nation we copied the presidential system of electoral democracy, was on its Supreme Court, as the court convened to hear cases that challenged President Joe Biden’s $400 billion worth student loan forgiveness.
The world renown political scientist and communications theorist Harold Lasswell referred to politics as “who gets what, when and how.” Politics for him, is a way of determining, without recourse to violence, who gets power or controls state’s resources, and how they get them.
A few weeks ago, as part of the World Bank-funded Ministry of Finance championed State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) program, state Governors assembled in Abuja to celebrate the success of the 4-year project which has come to an end (2018-2022).
The past week has been inundated with commentaries about the recent announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce new N200, N500, and N1000 notes, effective December 15, 2022.
I sincerely hope and pray that as we move into the elections period with all the possibilities of change that it offers, people’s minds will open up properly to the stark realities around them, and they will act in manners that counter the herd…
My concern is: Why can’t this behaviour exhibited within the American embassy be replicated on the home soil? Why is that not the case once we come outside and return to our comfort zones? Then we mostly exhibit the opposite behaviour.
On the 27th of July, a renowned human rights activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong raised an alarm through his official social media platforms that the Honorable Judge, Justice Ekaette Obot has sentenced him to one month imprisonment on charges bothering on contempt of court.
A popular maxim and doctrine in law states that “he who comes into equity must come with clean hands.” This loosely means that a court may deny equitable relief to a party who has violated good faith with respect to the subject of a particular claim being sought.
In 2015 when the President Muhammadu Buhari administration came into power, one of the reforms the government committed to was the digitization of the governance process.
Across major cities, fuel queues continue to bite harder, and the multiplied effects on the ordinary citizen are better imagined, as quality manhour continue to be wasted.
When Nigeria transited to democracy and embraced the presidential system of government in 1999, it marked the transfer of sovereignty from authoritarian leaders to the people.
When Nigerians see a contract signpost around their constituencies with the following inscription: “this project is sponsored by Senator A or Honourable B,” the conclusion for most citizens is that their National Assembly representative has graciously funded the project from his/her personal earning or allowances.
December 2016 was a tipping point in Ponzi investment in Nigeria with the crash of the popular Mavrodi Mundial Moneybox, otherwise known as MMM.
Since we now know that no one is safe from terrorists, I hope that we will utilise our immediate circles to ensure that the right things are being done at all levels. Public policy should have impact on the majority of the people, not a few.
Integrity is seen in varied forms, including the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. On the flip side, a lack of integrity would therefore include the absence of these strong moral principles or values upon which society is established or lack of respect for them.
But let us pose some salient questions about this matter: Is there any law in Nigeria that bars the search of the premises of a residence, even when spaces as sacrosanct as court premises can actually be searched?
While we agree that the president is the father of all, but decisions around him should be well thought out. Some things should be done in secret, if circumstances warrant an unpopular approach.
There has never been so much anxiety and fear about the future, like we are presently witnessing. And most of it is caused by a generational shift in terms of attitude, outlook, and disposition to the very issues that matter.
It’s difficult for a parent not to respond when asked for ransom for a kidnapped offspring, or even relative.