This column is blacked out in mourning
A deliberately spare act of public mourning that centres lives lost to insecurity rather than allowing routine political commentary to continue around them.
Systems & Society
Insights
Columns on Nigerian institutions, infrastructure, democracy, energy and government.
15 essays
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The maths teacher beheaded by a terrorist in Oyo
The killing of a teacher in Oyo is examined as a failure of security, local intelligence and the state’s obligation to protect ordinary citizens.
UAE exits OPEC: Time, sovereignty, and the fracturing of oil governance (Part 1)
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, was established in 1960 at the Baghdad Conference by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela to coordinate oil production and protect the interests of producing nations. The United Arab Emirates joined in 1967, becoming part of a system that shaped the modern oil order through collective […]
Nigeria’s power sector “penkelemesi”: Adelabu’s tenure and the next agenda
THE departure of Adebayo Adelabu as Minister of Power presents an opportunity for structural reset in a sector long managed through incremental adjustment rather than deliberate redesign. The word “Penkelemesi”—“peculiar mess”—popularized by Adelabu’s grandfather—aptly describes Nigeria’s power sector. From recurring grid collapses to chronic underperformance, it remains a study in systemic dysfunction. From recommendation to […]
The emerging global energy crisis and the shock absorbers of states (Part 1)
A systems account of how capable states build reserves and policy buffers before global oil and gas shocks reach households and firms.