Michael Olugbode Lust beyond the quiet outskirts of Nasarawa Toto in Nasarawa State, where farmers once rose at dawn to tend cassava fields and fishermen cast their nets into narrow streams, a new sound now defines the morning air — the metallic grind of industrial machinery. Two to three kilometres from clusters of mud-brick homes and farmlands, a sprawling lithium processing facility hums with activity. Conveyor belts roll relentlessly. Heavy-duty trucks thunder in and out. Fine dust occasionally rises into the sky, settling over nearby vegetation. To some residents, it signals long-awaited opportunity. To others, it carries uncertainty. A Global Mineral, A Local Reckoning Lithium — once a relatively obscure mineral — has become indispensable to the global clean energy transition. ...