The Nigerian Scam

In this episode, we try to think through the unfolding regional crisis brought about by the (latest) coup in Niger. What do we know about the coup so far? Why is Ecowas beating the drums of war? Should these recent coups give us hope for the future of popular sovereignty and socialism in West Africa? Some readings: Alex Thurston on domestic dynamics of the coup in Niger:  ⁠https://sahelblog.wordpr...

" The parable of the drum as the voice of the people" Another one for the film heads -- our review of Tunde Kelani's classic Saworoide (1999). Is this the first (and only) Nollywood film to advocate for popular resistance to capitalist environmental degredation? Is the 'traditional' aesthetic of the film distracting or inspiring? Does the film ultimately succeed as an effecti...

This is the first of a two-part episode examining what the Nigerian Left learned from the Obidients. To tackle this, we review a series of articles about the Labour Party and Peter Obi that were written by Nigerian Left essayists and organization both before and after the elections. Check out our Patreon page to listen to the extended conversation. The "before" pieces: https://socialistl...

In this episode, we put @SaeeduH on the hot-seat to discuss his recent article for @Africaisacountry on the ideological and economic legacies of the Buhari administration (we also challenge @SLASHER_OAG on whether Buharism and the Lagos Model suggest that the ruling classes have adopted a more complex mode of legitimation than the classic you chop, I chop model). Is there a perspective from which...

In the second volume of our 'scam hall of fame' mini-series, we explore a classic Nigerian haux that might not have been the most daring or expensive, but was certainly the weirdest: the time Kwara State came up with the ingenious idea of importing white Zimbabwean farmers (along with tons of cows and machinery) ostensibly to set up commercial farms in the state. Now a decade after the far...

We are joined once again by Ayo Ademiluyi (@ComAdemiluyi), the disputed Labour Party House of Reps candidate for Eti-Osa, Lagos, to discuss the LPs victory in his constituency. Having won the LP primaries for the position ahead of party's election victory in Eti-Osa, Ayo is now engaged in a legal battle against the 'substitution candidate' (@_JtAttah) imposed after the primaries. What...

In which we attempt to assess last weekend's governorship elections from the point of view of our regular thematic pre-occupations.

In which we discuss the (s)election of a new president - not of the NLC, that's for later  - but of our glorious federal republic. In addition to offering various takes on the titular question, we also attempt to assess the reasons behind the historically low turnout of voters as well as how the Nigerian left should respond to plans by the main opposition parties to challenge the result in co...

Coming back from our harmattan hiatus, we round out the presidential campaign  banter with a discussion about the naira scarcity: whether it really is engineered by 'the cabal' (per El Rufai's claim); how it might affect the election; and how an organized left would have responded to this moment. 

@dvmilola joined us for our second film review, this time about an authorized biopic centered on Nigeria's wannabe Pinochet and so called "evil genius", Ibrahim Badamisi Babangida. We disagree about whether the emerging sub-genre of historically-based Nollywood films should strive to be objective, but ultimately agree that IBB is one of the greatest scam artists in Nigerian history. We watched it...

In this episode, we revisit the Cement Armada Scandal, which we consider one of the foundational scams of the Nigerian political economy. The scandal saw the newly oil-rich post-civil war Nigerian government bumble into ordering half of the world's concrete supply, by some estimates. The arrival of hundred of cement laden ships effectively shut down the ports in Lagos for over a year,  forcin...

This episode draws out the key debates that came out of James Barnett's (@jh_barnett) reflections in our previous episode, centered on the findings of his in-person interviews with bandits in Zamfara. The full episode containing our earlier interview with James,  which was free-to-listen for a limited time , is now accessible via our Patreon — which you should check out. As usual, praise, rev...

This week, we spoke with Kunle Wizeman Ajayi (@AjayiWizeman), former Lagos chair of the African Action Congress (AAC), about the AAC's ideology, 'structures', and electoral prospects.  We also talked through some of the possible limitations of the AAC's strategy as well as the party's plans to respond not only to the 'obidient wave', but also to the more established obstacles: APC and PDP.&nb...

In this episode, we spoke to radical ASUU member Temitope 'Maberu' Fagunwa (@RealMaberu), who is also an afrobeat musician, a pan-africanist and a history Lecturer at the University of Osun State, UNIOSUN.  We discussed the NLC solidarity protest and student support for the ASUU strike, the conditions of life for lectureres amidst such strikes, the possible elitism of ASUU's demands, and whet...

(by popular demand, now liiberated for the masses) Did Atiku shout us out? We review some of the best (real) feedback we've received so far, and hint at future directions/collaborations. Subscribe to our patreon for upcoming and previous bonus and premium episodes.

This is a teaser for the full episode in which we review some of our favorite feedback on the show so far.  Listen to the full episode on our newly introduced patreon page (https://www.patreon.com/join/nigerianscam).  We hope to use the patreon to keep up audience engagement with tailored episodes and content -- as well as to raise funds! Subscribe for access to all premium and bonus epi...

We spoke with marxist public interest lawyer and #EndSARS activist Ayo Ademiluyi (@AYOADEMILUYI) about his campaign for House of Representatives under the Nigerian Labour Party. How is the Nigerian left responding to the Peter Obi moment? Does the Labour Party now represent a genuine working class force? Does the left have any leverage in the LP now that Obi has been given the party's presidential...

Our tenth episode (!) considers electoral and economic questions as APC delegates arrive in Abuja:   Are the ruling party primaries of significant to the Left?  Should we put much stock in the Gen X 'progressives' now that the baby-boomer generals are dying out?  Should a people's government pursue forms of industrialization in the face of climate change? etc, etc. Enjoy responsibly...

In this far-reaching and sometimes tense discussion, we interviewed Offiong Aqua, one of the leaders of the historic 1978 Ali-Must-Go student protests (which we will come back to, don't worry) about his background in radical student politics in the military era, his sojourn in the Soviet Union, his perspective on the Russia/Ukraine (/NATO) conflict, and his more recent advocacy for independence an...

In this episode with Immaculate Abba (@thisNneoma on twitter), we interrogate the claim that Africapitalism is an attempt to develop a genuinely productive national bourgeoisie. But is it Elumelu's $100m gamble or gambit? What Does Africapitalism Actually Mean? by Immaculate Abba Subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive content.

A year away from the general and presidential elections and the race is already heating up. Let’s speculate! Subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive content.

In this episode, we discuss the class and economic forces that shaped EndSARS, grapple with lingering questions hounding the movements future and investigate Emeka’s looting proclivities. And of course there was so much to talk about, we had to break the episode in two.  Check out our Patreon for a bonus episode on the generational divide plaguing #EndSARS. 

OAG and Sa’eed spend the intro berating the ethnic/religious secessionist movements for being bad at history and geography and even worse at redistributive politics. Then Emeka joins in during the heart of the episode, where we offer some initial reflections on why the idea of the scam seemed an apt description for our show — and for our country (and the nation-state model more generally).  W...

Part 1 of The 70's Series   In this review of the Nollywood film "'76", we discover (to no ones surprise) that Rita Dominic is one of the greatest actresses of her generation, that geriatrics are infiltrating our ranks and, that Murtala Muhammed was not a communist.  There's also some other stuff about the influence of military wives in national politics and the unheralded impact of radi...

In our much-anticipated comeback episode, we discuss the limitations of online politics, the (probably) now expanded surveillance capacities of our ruling elite, and why you shouldn't trust Jack Dorsey. Additional Reading: NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, licensed to governments around the globe, can infect phones without a click Subscribe to our Patreon for exclusive content.