Series · 3 parts

An Almajiri's Reality

Victoria Ogbechia

Series

Inskriba Manifesto

Series · 3 parts

Dear Conquered Generation

Usang Daves

Series · 3 parts

The Republic of Improvisation.

Anonymous

Series · 3 parts

We Go Alive

Usang Daves

Research

Algorithmic Colonialism: Why Global AI Safety Guardrails Fail the Nigerian Reality

The safety guardrails for large language models (LLMs) at scale globally are still basically tuned to Western sociological baselines. This research examines the systemic friction of these imported protocols with the Nigerian reality. This paper, through a localised lens, analyses Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) and shows how global AI models often misclassify the localised Nigerian informal economy as a risk vector and misinterpret indigenous linguistic nuances such as Pidgin and localised syntax as policy violations. Ultimately, this research makes the case that true algorithmic alignment must come from indigenous red-teaming to ensure global models adapt to African realities rather than enforce digital exclusion.

Praise Oshin

Research

Declining Participation, Shifting Registers: Voter Turnout Patterns in Nigeria's 2015, 2019, and 2023 Presidential Elections and Projections for 2027

This research observes voting patterns in the last three presidential elections and offers advice to relevant bodies on how to improve the turnout for subsequent elections.

Sifon Bassey

Research

The Architecture of the "Urgent 2k": Nigeria's Invisible Micro-Lending Network

This research investigates the structural mechanics of the "urgent 2k"—a ubiquitous, informal micro-lending network prevalent across Nigerian youth demographics. With tough collateral and credit history requirements, this demographic is generally excluded from formal credit systems, but has built a decentralised, zero-interest peer-to-peer lending ecosystem. This paper discusses the role of social capital as an alternative mechanism for credit scoring, the role of neobanks in facilitating high velocity liquidity, and the role of digital reputational threat as the main tool for debt recovery. The deconstruction of this cultural phenomenon shows systemic failures of formal models of financial inclusion, and at the same time resilience of indigenous financial engineering.

Praise Oshin

Research

The Roots of Nigeria's Major Political Parties: Elite Bargains, Defections, and the Making of a Fluid Party System

This paper traces the organizational origins of six parties central to Nigeria's Fourth Republic politics, the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, the African Democratic Congress, and the newly formed Nigeria Democratic Congress.

Sifon Bassey