April/May 2024

ECOWAS

A Sahel-less ECOWAS

The announcement by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger of their exit from ECOWAS, 24 years after Mauritania’s exit in 2000, threatens to de-Sahelize the regional bloc. It marks more fundamental problems associated with spatial inequality and its influence in West African national and regional politics that are yet to be addressed head on.
Senator Ningi

The Accidental Man of the People

Senator Ningi’s suspension by the Senate after he raised allegations of budget padding has made him a hero in the eyes of Nigerians. But it would be unwise to distance Ningi from the National Assembly establishment, a system he has been part of and helped cultivate since 1999.