Category: Politics
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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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The Solid Minerals Question: Why Nigeria’s Next Boom Will Not Be Crude
Nigeria’s economic history is a study in dependency. From groundnut pyramids to cocoa hills to crude oil terminals, we have built our fortunes on a single commodity at a time — and watched each empire collapse when the global price turned. The Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, is quietly assembling a…