The Republic Lagos

In South Africa, the influence and popularity of ‘big men’ like Vusumuzi Cat Matlala reveal not only the broken promise of democracy, but a culture that rewards venality and self-advancement. Our heroes may reflect the best of us, but our villains may be a truer mirror. Oct 11, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. On 6 July 2025, something unusual happened in South Africa.

Nigerian politics does not lack ideology. Instead, the problem is that one ideology has become so dominant that we have stopped seeing it. Oct 4, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. Suppose for a moment that you encounter a politician from a country somewhere in the world.

There is no universal formula for determining how many states a country should have. Nigeria has 36 states, but why not 35 or 37? Is 36 event he ideal number? Oct 4, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. implied during an April 2026 Since Nigeria became independent from Britain in 1960, fears of political marginalization and economic domination have been leading factors driving the desire to create new states.

Garuba Square, Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Photography by Deji Onaolapo / THE REPUBLIC. It is 29 July 2026, elections season, at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK). We are gathered at Garuba Square, a popular hotspot on the Awka campus. Most students are absent; only a fraction of the student population (about 49,000) are here, but one doesn’t exactly feel this absence. The energy pulses as students tap each other, whisper to each other and hail their preferred candidates.

Two centuries ago, Nana Asma’u built a network of female scholars at the heart of Nigerian Islam. Their authority faded from public view, yet among Muslim women in Nigeria today, their tradition survives. Sep 20, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. My Madrasah was crammed, heavy with the presence of mallams who had red flames in their eyes. Men in white kaftans and skull caps held a book in their left hand and the koboko, the long, meaty whip, in their right.

Economic forecasts, policy discussions and even social commentary often present the figure of Nigeria’s population with remarkable confidence. Numbers like 220 or 250 million are widely accepted to be true. Perhaps these estimates are correct. But there could be fewer people or more. And this uncertainty raises a fundamental question: can you build a modern society without knowing the number of people in it? This dilemma extends beyond Nigeria.

Decades of failed governance, banditry and economic collapse are driving young men from northern Nigeria across the Sahara in search of gold, dignity and a version of manhood Nigeria no longer offers them. Written by Umar Yandaki Sep 6, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. Chicago had lulled us into thinking winter was behind us, but true to its restless nature, the windy city kept sending cold snaps and flurries deep into March.

As Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo prepares to hand power to his son, Teodorín, a gas boom and fears of Chinese expansion are turning Equatorial Guinea’s notorious heir from international pariah into a partner welcomed in Washington and Texas. Aug 23, 2026 Photo Illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. Spanish-American consortiums had already spent a decade and a billion pesetas probing the shallow waters of the Bight of Biafra and the Bay of Corisco.

Menu Our August - October issue, Africa’s Hustle Republics, explores the social life of money across the African continent. Spanning weddings, agriculture, migration, finance and informal economies, this magazine examines the many ways Africans make, move, perform and imagine money; and what these worlds reveal about the continent today. $24.99 Our August - October issue, Africa’s Hustle Republics, explores the social life of money across the African continent.

Saheed Aderinto’s First Draft By Saheed Aderinto August 16, 2026 Illustration by Kevwe Ogini / THE REPUBLIC. Historian, Saheed Aderinto, believes the future of Nigerian academia begins with dismantling hierarchy.