# Abubakar Suleiman > Nigerian economist and banker, Chief Executive of Sterling Bank, writing on nation building, context, and the informal economy. The argument of this site is that build on the soil that exists, not the soil you wish existed. It is organised as three standing positions, the writing that supports them, and recorded appearances. Written in a personal capacity. Nothing here represents the views of any board, institution or advisory body. ## Positions - [Nation building](https://suleimana.com/positions/nation-building/): Politics is transactional. Nation building is transformational. - [Altitude and perspective](https://suleimana.com/positions/altitude-and-perspective/): The same building is a giant and a dwarf. Only where you stand changes. - [Informal productivity](https://suleimana.com/positions/informal-productivity/): The informal sector is not a shadow economy. It is the economy. ## Essays & Writings - [The Great Recalibration](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/the-great-recalibration-fcf6f49810ed): 23 February 2026 — published on Medium. Africa does not have a large white-collar class to be disrupted. It has a vast informal sector to be augmented, and the risk is a computational divide rather than job loss. - [The Architecture of Context](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/the-architecture-of-context-why-we-misjudge-almost-everything-bcfcf31ad4ac): 5 February 2026 — published on Medium. A 42-storey tower is a giant from the street and a dwarf from the 95th floor. On why context is the lens through which information acquires meaning. - [Life as a Venture](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/life-as-a-venture-627275520f8f): 21 January 2026 — published on Medium. Live like a venture capitalist, not a merchant bank. On backing character before it is proven, following on when results lag, and expecting power-law outcomes from people. - [Between Ameen and Amen](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/between-ameen-and-amen-fbe8388b1e25): 18 October 2025 — published on Medium. Two words so alike they are nearly indistinguishable, turned into an unbridgeable divide. On who benefits when shared deprivation is recast as sectarian suspicion. - [A Pilgrimage to the Hither-Land](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/a-pilgrimage-to-the-hither-land-four-journeys-across-nigeria-7b54a46ffbd9): 11 October 2025 — published on Medium. Four journeys across Nigeria in five years — a forest, an island, warm springs and a creek — and the discovery that our land is enough. - [Beyond Politics: The Elite’s Role in Nation Building](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/beyond-politics-the-elites-role-in-nation-building-183fa8512400): 4 June 2025 — published on Medium. Politics is transactional and operates in electoral cycles. Nation building is transformational and spans generations. On the three pillars and the elite’s particular responsibility. - [Message to my president-in-the-making](https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com/message-to-my-president-in-the-making-5f25fac64072): 24 February 2023 — published on Medium. A note to an incoming president: respect those who employ, tax the wealthy, retire the subsidies, and stop mistaking regulation for revenue. - [Habits maketh a Nation](https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com/habits-maketh-a-nation-b122029f2d83): 1 January 2023 — published on Medium. The habits a country must give up before its circumstances can change, beginning with the attraction to hopelessness. - [The Limit of Money](https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com/the-limit-of-money-4ede6a291589): 6 September 2021 — published on Medium. Money is a language for communicating economic activity, not an asset. Separated from real things it conveys nothing, because value must be created before it can be represented. - [This is not a feel-good post](https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com/this-is-not-a-feel-good-post-ceb451a72140): 23 May 2021 — published on Medium. Each generation has handed the next a broken inheritance. On the apology that is not coming, and why the waiting has to end. - [On becoming a listening TWAT](https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com/on-becoming-a-listening-twat-b1281a457529): 10 May 2021 — published on Medium. Thinking, writing, acting and talking. On the discipline of the empty cup, and why so few of our leaders write down what they believe. ## Speeches & Interviews - [Invest Lagos 3.0: A Game of Trust](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/invest-lagos-3-0-a-game-of-trust-c5a3f12600a5): 8 June 2026. An address on why the next investment breakthrough rests on domestic confidence and price stability. Capital is not emotional, but it has memory. - [Think Global, Go Global: The Diversity of One](https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com/think-global-go-global-the-diversity-of-one-b01a597d357d): 7 September 2025. A talk on the diversity of one: a pickup truck to Otukpo, a BATA shop sign, and how a single person can hold more difference than any label allows. ## About - [About](https://suleimana.com/about/): Biography, roles, and the personal-capacity note. - [Contact](https://suleimana.com/contact/): One email route. No form. ## Elsewhere - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abubakar_Suleiman - https://www.linkedin.com/in/abubakar-suleiman-62141010/ - https://x.com/suleimana - https://www.instagram.com/abubakar.suleiman/ - https://abubakarsuleiman.medium.com - https://abubakarsuleiman-33690.medium.com - https://sterling.ng/executive-staff/abubakar-suleiman/ ## Optional - [Full text](https://suleimana.com/llms-full.txt): Every page of this site as plain text, in one request. - [Feed](https://suleimana.com/rss.xml): RSS for the writing and the spoken work. - [Sitemap](https://suleimana.com/sitemap.xml): All canonical URLs.