Publications

Books​

• Understanding Kleptocracy (forthcoming in 2024)
• "Double Standards or Different Lenses? Comparing U.S. Approaches to the Buhari and Abacha Governments" in Wale Adebanwi (ed), Democracy and Nigeria’s Fourth Republic
  Governance, Political Economy, and Party Politics 1999–2023​ (James Currey, September 2023).​
• Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2018).
• "A Look Ahead at U.S. Nigeria Policy: Will Reality Trump Rhetoric?" in Trump Meets Africa (Centre for Democracy and Development, 2017), 59-66.

Reports​​

• Security Cooperation as a Tool of Strategic Competition in Africa (RAND, forthcoming in 2023). (co-authored)
• Anticipating the Next Stage in the Battle Against Transnational Kleptocracy (NED, 2022). (co-authored with Jodi Vittori).
• Halting the Kleptocratic Capture of Local Government in Nigeria (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2022). (co-authored with Abdul Hafiz Wando)

 

• Nigeria's Presidential Amnesty Programme: Untangling the Dependencies That Prevent it Ending (SDN, 2021).
• Fake Civil Society: The Rise of Pro-Government NGOs in Nigeria (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2021).
• Buhari's Anti-Corruption Fight at Six Years: An Assessment (Centre for Democracy and Development, 2021).
• Innovative or Ineffective? Reassessing Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement in Nigeria (Global Integrity, 2021).
• West African Elites’ Spending on UK Schools and Universities: A Closer Look (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2021).

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• Dubai’s Role in Facilitating Corruption and Global Illicit Financial Flows (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2020). (co-edited with Jodi Vittori).
• Buhari's Corruption Fight: A Five Year Assessment (Centre for Democracy and Development, 2020).
• Dubai Property: An Oasis for Nigeria’s Political Elites​ (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2020).
• Pipeline Surveillance Contracts in the Niger Delta (Stakeholder Democracy Network, 2019).
• Counting the Votes: Ward-Level Collation during Nigeria’s 2019 Election (Centre for Democracy and Development, 2019).

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• Stolen Dreams: How Corruption Negates Government Assistance to Nigeria’s Small Businesses (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2019). ​
• From Agitators to Legislators: The Migration of Ex-Militants into Niger Delta Politics (Stakeholder Democracy Network, 2018)
• The Intersection of China's Commercial Interests and Nigeria's Conflict Landscape​ (US Institute of Peace, 2018).
• Countdown to February 2019: A Look Ahead at Nigeria’s Looming Elections (Chatham House, 2018).
• A New Taxonomy For Corruption in Nigeria (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2018). ​

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• Camouflaged Cash: How 'Security Votes' Fuel Corruption in Nigeria (Transparency International, 2018).
• Weaponising Transparency: Nigerian Defence Procurement Reform As a Counterterrorism Strategy. (Transparency International, 2017).
• (Re)Emerging Threats to Nigeria's Petroleum Sector. (Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy, 2016).
• Improving U.S. Anti-Corruption Policy in Nigeria. (Council on Foreign Relations, 2016).​
• Nigeria's Future Hinges on Its States. (Council on Foreign Relations, 2016).

Articles​

• "Nigeria’s 2023 Elections Bring Anglo-American Policy Missteps Into Focus", Chatham House, March 2023 (forthcoming).
• "The Two Voting Blocs That Could Transform Nigerian Politics", Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2023.
• "How Russia’s Hollow Humanitarianism Hurt its Vaccine Diplomacy in Africa", Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 2022.

 

• "The Cleansing Power of Ivory Towers: How Elite Educational Institutions Legitimize Kleptocrats Children" in  Waking up to Reputation Laundering as a Mechanism for Transnational Kleptocracy (National Endowment for Democracy, 2022).
• "Nigeria’s Ambivalence to Russia’s COVID-19 Diplomacy", Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, January 12, 2022.
• "Pro-government groups helped quash Nigeria’s protests last year. Who’s really behind these groups?", The Washington Post (Monkey Cage Blog), 7 October 2021.
• "Nigeria’s New Military Chiefs Face Uphill Battle", Chatham House, 10 February 2021.
• "Learning from #EndSARS - A New U.S. Policy Toward Nigeria", AllAfrica, 2 November 2020.

 

• "‘You Are Fired!’: Personalised Rule and the Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi", Premium Times, 12 October 2020.
• "Nigeria's Fiscal Flu", Chatham House,  12 May 2020.
• "Fresh perspectives on the effectiveness of anti-corruption law enforcement in Nigeria", Global Integrity, 3 March 2020. Crossposted as "Is Nigeria turning around its anti-corruption enforcement?", FCPA Blog, 19 May 2020.
• "Effective or falling flat? A fresh look at high-level corruption prosecutions in three African jurisdictions", Global Integrity, 20 August 2019. Crossposted as "Does innovative enforcement help or hurt anti-corruption efforts?" , The FCPA Blog, 18 September 2019.
• "Nigeria’s small businesses want government help, but corruption is draining it away", Quartz Africa, 2 April 2019.

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• "Nigeria Struggles With Security Sector Reform", Chatham House, 2 April 2019.
• "Nigeria's 2019 Election: What Are We Missing?", West Africa Insight, January 2019.
• "Nigeria is home to 500+ kinds of graft. Here’s a new way to think about them.", African Arguments, 14 August 2018. Crossposted as "Matthew Page: A new ‘periodic table’ to classify corruption", The FCPA Blog, 22 August 2018.
• "In Nigerian politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies", Quartz Africa, 12 July 2018.
• "From Terrorism to Talakawa: Explaining Party Turnover in Nigeria’s 2015 Elections", Review of African Political Economy, May 2018.

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• "Nigeria’s kleptocrats have a toxic love affair with London’s expensive real estate", Quartz Africa, 24 November 2017.
• "Donald Trump wants to lead a 21st century scramble for Africa—but he doesn’t know how", Quartz Africa, 21 September 2017.
• "Donald Trump could be getting his US-Africa policy right by simply not having one", Quartz Africa, 9 August 2017.​
• "In the war on Boko Haram, is the U.S. turning a blind eye to Cameroon’s abuses?", Washington Post, 26 July 2017.
• "In spite of everything, Nigerians have a weird attraction to Donald Trump", Quartz Africa, 20 July 2017.

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• "Five Reasons Washington Should Rethink Selling Warplanes to Nigeria", War on the Rocks, 8 November 2016.
• "Corruption Hampers Nigeria’s Efforts to Fight Climate Change", World Politics Review, 1 November 2016.​
• "Donors Dither As Bureaucrats Exploit Nigeria's Humanitarian Crisis", AllAfrica.com, 17 October 2016.
• "Nigeria’s kleptocracy has been stealing public funds forever. Here’s how to stop it.", Washington Post, 22 July 2016.
• "Weak U.S. policies help Nigeria kleptocrats hide and spend their plunder", The FCPA Blog, 14 July 2016.​

 

• "Instead of Cutting Waste, Nigeria Racks Up Debt to Replace Oil Revenues​", World Politics Review, 28 March 2016.
• "Nigeria's Problems Are Compounded By Sub-National Debt", The Financial Times, 24 March 2016.
• "Nigeria's Reform of Its State Oil Company Will Be Cosmetic Without Cutting Corrupt Ties", Quartz Africa, 11 March 2016.​
• "Nigeria: Buhari’s 2016 Budget Continues Use of Secretive ‘Security Votes’", African Arguments, 14 January 2016. ​
• "Five Things President Buhari Can Do To Get His Country Back on Track", Washington Post, 2 November 2015.

Podcasts / Webinars

• "The Rise and Fall of Nigeria's Super Cop", Cheat Podcast, 27 September 2022.
• "The Lekki Massacre Report", Nigeria Politics Weekly Podcast, 21 November 2021.
• "Political Turmoil in Nigeria", Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs, 29 September 2021.
• "NNPC profits, NDA attacked & Doctors under attack", Nigeria Politics Weekly Podcast, 29 August 2021.
• SABC Channel Africa's African Dialogue, "Militants kill dozens in northeast Nigeria", 6 May 2021.
• "Obaseki v Emiefele and Pantami under fire", Nigeria Politics Weekly Podcast, 19 April 2021.
• "Are UK private boarding schools & universities a possible route for PEPs to channel unexplained wealth?", Step Up Nigeria Podcast, 6 April 2021.

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• "From Building Bombs to Building Futures: A new U.S. approach to atrocity prevention in the Sahel", Win Without War panel discussion (begins at minute 13), 10 March 2021.
• "The Lekki Massacre and Its Implications", Nigeria Politics Weekly Podcast, 26 October 2020.
• "Explaining the Nigerian #EndSARS Protests", Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 20, 2020.
• "Covid Corruption", CSIS Into Africa Podcast, 9 July 2020.
• "Will improving infrastructure transparency contribute to an effective response to COVID-19?", Step Up Nigeria Podcast, June 2020.

 

• "Nigerian Elites Buying Property in Dubai: A Conversation with Matthew Page", GOAL16 Podcast, 29 May 2020.
• "Episode 52: A conversation with Matthew Page on the upcoming Nigerian elections", Ufahamu Africa, 12 January 2019.
• "Podcast: What Are Some of the Most Damaging Types of Corruption?", Step Up Nigeria, 27 November 2018.
• Kleptoscope: Nigeria - A Conversation at the Hay Festival 2018.
• "Podcast: Can Buhari Right the Ship of State?", Risk Advisory Group, 10 September 2016​.

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