Systems & Society

Insights

Columns on Nigerian institutions, infrastructure, democracy, energy and government.

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8 essays

Energy

Projects are not a power system: Is Minister Tegbe confused?

LAST week, I intended to discuss how record-breaking heatwaves are increasing demand for cooling, prompting the International Energy Agency (IEA) to warn of mounting pressure on electricity systems. Nigeria must treat grid restructuring and coordinated distributed energy systems as national priorities for affordable electricity, industrialisation and economic development. The question is: what electricity system should […]

Constitution

Should the NBA continue to monopolise the administration of justice?

MY original intention this week was to discuss a different subject. Record-breaking heatwaves are increasing demand for cooling, prompting the International Energy Agency (IEA) to warn of mounting pressure on electricity systems. I intended to argue that Nigeria must urgently treat grid restructuring and coordinated distributed energy systems as national priorities for affordable electricity, cooling, […]

Federalism

The missing layer in Nigeria’s state police debate

THE National Assembly has taken significant steps toward the creation of state police. The House of Representatives has passed the constitutional amendment bill, while the Senate has advanced it through second reading and referred it for public hearings and further scrutiny.

Education

Abẹ́nilórí at the gates of Yorubaland

GLOBALLY, teaching is associated with building state capacity, modest livelihoods, and peace of mind. Teachers shape civilization. Teachers and students in rural Nigeria are now casualties of social collapse. Rural schools are no longer merely underfunded; they are exposed frontlines of national insecurity. The Federal Government recently exempted intending teachers from JAMB examinations. Yet a […]

Education

Is Nigeria’s future imperiled? EFCC Chairman Olukoyede should tell us

If indeed 60 percent of a nation’s university students are involved in crime, then the implications go far beyond campus misconduct. It means future political leaders, business executives, academics, civil servants, and professionals may increasingly emerge from a culture shaped by fraud, bribery, and illegality. And the future is between five and 15 years away. […]

Constitution

The Courts, INEC, and Political Parties: Guardians of Democracy or Its Saboteurs?

Democracies fail not only when institutions are captured, but also when institutions, acting within their mandates, produce outcomes that weaken the system they are meant to protect. At the center of democracy are three guardians: political parties, electoral umpires, and the courts. When these institutions act with clarity, coordination, and discipline, democracy strengthens. When they […]