Day: August 13, 2026
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Local Government Is Not Small Government — It Is the Whole Government, Up Close
Nigeria is fond of hierarchies. We speak of the Federal Government as the “top”, the state as the “middle”, the local government as the “bottom”. This vocabulary is not just inaccurate — it is actively harmful. It has convinced two generations of our brightest citizens that the local government is where careers go to die.…
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Why Every Cabinet Needs at Least One Journalist in the Room
When I was appointed Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, one of my quieter contributions to cabinet deliberations was to ask, at seemingly random moments, a single question: “How will this look on the front page of PUNCH tomorrow?” At first, some of my colleagues found the question annoying. By the end of…
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A Letter to the Young Journalist
Dear Adaeze, Congratulations on the byline. I remember mine — a short piece for Broad Street Ventures in 1988, buried on page seven, about a labour dispute at a printing press in Yaba. Nobody read it. I read it fourteen times. You asked me, in your careful email, what I wish I had known when…