Power & Incentives
The Architecture of African Power
How incentives shape Africa's political systems, and what that means for institutional reform.
14 min readWriter · Systems thinker · Author
Oladimeji IreAyo
Omilonlo
Bello Oladimeji Muhammed
“The obvious is rarely the truth”
Writing on power, institutions, scarcity, history and human behaviour.
Forthcoming bookThe Power of Poverty
Launching 19 November 2026 at the University of SheffieldSelected writing
Essays & analysis
Scarcity & Behaviour
Poverty Is Not the Absence of Wealth
Scarcity as a form of intelligence, and why the privileged consistently misread the decisions of the poor.
11 min readInstitutional Psychology
The Quiet Collapse of Institutional Memory
How institutional knowledge is lost between governments, and the consequences for public administration.
18 min read
FORTHCOMING · 19 NOVEMBER 2026
The Power of Poverty
The Hidden Intelligence of Scarcity
“Poverty is not the absence of wealth. It is the presence of a structure that demands a different kind of mind.”
144 pages · Hardcover · eBook · Audible
Launch · University of Sheffield · 19 November 2026
The bookFields of inquiry
Power. People.
Institutions.
The questions behind the writing, from the workings of political authority to the inheritance of cultural memory.
About the writer- 01
Power & Institutions
The relationship between authority, incentives and institutional life.
- 02
Scarcity & Human Behaviour
How people make decisions under scarcity.
- 03
Governance & Political Systems
The formal and informal arrangements that shape public life.
- 04
Historical Memory
How societies preserve, contest and lose their knowledge of the past.
- 05
Culture & Civilisational Thought
Yoruba thought and the long inheritance of ideas.
Correspondence
The Hidden Logic
Essays and reflections, delivered by email.
Email address