Debating Ideas
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The Hollowing of Sovereignty: Nigeria’s Trilemma and the Retreat of the State
In early February, an insurgent group attacked communities in Kwara, North Central Nigeria, killing over a hundred people. President Bola Tinubu condemned the attack, ... -
Have Election Crackdowns Become the Norm? Domestic and Cross-Border Repression in East Africa
Human rights abuses marred the presidential elections in Uganda in January 2026 and the contested polls in Tanzania in October 2025. As neighbouring Kenya ... -
Lesotho’s Anti-Corruption Paradox: Empowered but Undermined
Over the past decade, Lesotho’s political landscape has been marked by repeated leadership turnover and fragile coalition governments, which have steadily eroded public trust. ... -
A Mirage of Extraversion: The Political Cost of Nigeria’s Lobbying Deal
The Nigerian government has recently engaged the services of a Washington-based lobbying firm to promote its efforts at protecting the lives of Nigerians against ... -
Youths in Zimbabwe Are Not Rejecting Politics – They Are Reshaping it
Youth political participation in Zimbabwe is often described in familiar terms: party membership, mobilisation through rallies, and the manipulation of unemployed young people into ... -
The Horn and the Gulf: How a New Geopolitical Confluence is Emerging
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland continues to reverberate across the Red Sea’s fast-changing geopolitics. How to read the emerging regional map? Certainly not through the ... -
Will Elections Bring Peace to South Sudan?
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has not had an election since its independence from Sudan in 2011. Per the 2018 power-sharing agreement, the ... -
Israel’s Somaliland Gamble is Repeating the Bloody History that Created Al-Shabaab
The Boxing Day recognition will not bring stability but will ignite a conflict that empowers extremists and spills into Ethiopia’s troubled east. On Boxing ... -
Museveni’s Militarised Elections: A Gen Z Reckoning
The 15 January elections in Uganda are almost a foregone conclusion, preceded, as has become customary, by a violent crackdown against the opposition. As ... -
Israel’s Recognition of Somaliland: Northeast Africa at a Critical Juncture
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland on 26 December 2025 has introduced yet another twist to the already volatile geostrategic landscape of Northeast Africa. Though not ...
