Politics & Security
Ghazouani at the Helm
While domestic challenges to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani’s legitimacy dimmed soon after he was re-elected as Mauritanian president last year, his attempt to balance competing external pressures risks reigniting the social tensions that underpinned the original mobilizations against his re-election. Read More...
Politics of Religion in Northern Nigeria
The failure of populist religious reforms has opened the door to radical religious groups who criticize the state for both poor governance and non-adherence to religious doctrines. This unresolved tension leads to the politicization of Islam. The resulting disconnect deepens ideological divides and leads to continuous social unrest. Read More...
Does APC Deserve Another Ten Years?
As Nigeria’s ruling party, All Progressives Congress, marks ten years in power, Nigerians should assess the performance of the party and decide the political trajectory of the nation. Read More...
Have Nigerian Governors Lost Their Powers?
In the wake of political defections by Nigerian governors, there are questions about their influence and how much of these defections significantly affect the country’s political trajectory. Read More...
Algeria’s Golden Opportunity
Africa’s largest country, Algeria, has a sizeable record of global mediation, spanning the Iran-Iraq conflict in 1975 to the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict in 2000. Algeria’s evolving diplomacy raises questions on how it balances its revolutionary roots with pragmatic politics. Read More...
The Hypocrisy of El-Rufai
Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the gadfly former governor of Kaduna State, is no stranger to the corridors of power, but his new-found activism exposes a hypocrisy typical of Nigerian politicians who have suddenly found themselves out of the pecking order of power and privilege. Read More...
Nigeria’s New BRICS Status Won’t Solve Its Economic Crisis—but It Signals a Foreign Policy Shift
Nigeria’s decision to join BRICS as a partner signals its desire to be at the forefront of an emerging geopolitical order. However, it must carefully navigate complex internal challenges while weighing both the opportunities and risks of this new alliance. Read More...
Does the Government’s Anti-Ransom Ban Make Sense?
While the Nigerian government continues to discourage payment of ransom to kidnappers, the failure of security operatives to tactically address the root cause means families of kidnapped victims are likely not to comply. Read More...
Babangida and the Politics of Memory
Wale Lawal unpacks ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida’s spin on history, A Journey in Service, the cracks in Nigerian activism and the silent collapse of intellectualism in Nigerian universities. Read More...
Can Nigeria’s Centre Hold?
With the establishment of regional commissions, is Nigeria inching close to true federalism or witnessing the failure of the current governance system? Read More...
