Nigeria, Aug. 5 -- It was meant to be just another presidential announcement-another file pushed across the desk, another headline buried in the papers. But if you know how to read between the lines, you'd see it wasn't routine. It was loaded.

The President had set up a high-powered Census Steering Committee. The job? Simple on paper: oversee the next national headcount. But the truth? That committee would decide who gets what and how much-for the next decade.

The census isn't just a tally of heads. It's the engine that drives money, power, roads, schools, hospitals, and even who gets to sit in parliament. It's the country's official scoreboard. And this time, someone's rigging the game.

Eight men and women made the list. Five from one...