It is well established that even in countries that have poor governance and weakpublic sectors, exceptional, well-functioning government and government-supportedagencies do exist. – David K. Leonard (2008)You need to do ten times what is ordinary in this environment to get anything done.You need to be a little crazy. – Nuhu Ribadu. 1.0 IntroductionI start this lecture by paying tribute to the convener of the Iju Public Affairs Forum, Professor Ladipo Adamolekun. Many would ask what the purpose of these lectures is. Why does an accomplished, world-class intellectual spend his retirement funds on organizing public discourses on topical societal issues? What
Read More
Monthly Archives December 2018
The ‘Selfie State’: State Capture in Nigeria
Summary: This paper presents a variation on the theme of state capture as it is more generally understood in the literature. The term “state capture” is more widely used to refer to a situation in which non-state actors have captured the state by influencing public officials, or where powerful state officials are using non-state actors to direct state resources to private benefit. This paper offers a different perspective: that in which the state, through its institutions and structure, has managed to capture itself. I refer to such a state as a ‘selfie state’ and use Nigeria as a prism for
Read More