Obadiah Mailafia

The syndrome of state collapse stares us in the face. Its indicators include mounting democratic pressures; refugees resulting in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies; the legacy of the…

Afghanistan is a central Asian country with landmass of 652,864 km2 and a population of 32.9 million. It is a poor country with a GDP of $21.7 billion and a per capita income of $493. It is…

In his famous book, The Leviathan, the English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes depicts a state of nature where “the life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. In the…

Money is a public good, defined as that class of commodities or services that freely benefits all members of society. Money fulfils three economic functions: a unit of account, a store of…

The sole purpose of government, since Aristotle, Kautilya and Thomas Jefferson, is to ensure the peace, security and welfare of all the citizenry. The ancient Greek Athenians termed it …

In 1923-24, our British colonial overlords took the first ever loan on behalf of Nigeria, in the sum of £5.7 million. With an interest rate of 2.5% payable over 20 years, the loan was…

As long as civilisation has existed on our planet, debt has been a fact of life. It has been suggested that the great Roman Empire collapsed partly due to failure to balance the public…

Last week, Wednesday 7 July, former South African President Jacob Zuma finally handed himself over to the police. He is to serve a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court. This…

It had been 20 years in the making. And it was first tabled before parliament 14 years ago. Last week, Thursday 1st July, the Senate finally passed the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill…

Economists have become increasingly interested in the factors underlying insecurity, war and violent conflict. Public choice and game theory in particular focus attention on costs and…