A recovery score proposed by Sundiata Post Intelligence Unit lead researcher Max Nwabueze Amuchie puts protection and compliance before reliable institutional function, arguing that authority depends on conditions that allow public bodies to work.
In a Nov. 8 commentary for BusinessDay, Amuchie introduced the Recovery Sequencing Score as part of his proposed Decoupling Sovereignty Index (DSI). Its four stages proceed from protection to compliance, then territorial credibility and institutional function. An abstract for his SSRN working paper presents the same order and says reversing it risks relapse.
The DSI is intended to examine the distance between a government’s formal authority and its ability to exercise that authority in practice. An Oct. 25 BusinessDay installment counted 19 indicators across three areas: six for Money, seven for Land and six for Mind. Amuchie presents the Recovery Sequencing Score as a higher-level component, rather than a universal 20th indicator. EconoTimes previously covered the index’s proposed test for how rival authority can reinforce itself.
BusinessDay illustrates the idea with an unnamed territory where armed groups dictate movement along roads, pressure traders and restrict access to farmland as authorities reopen an office or formalize commercial activity. The commentary presents no real location or project to measure. Amuchie argues that residents, officials and public programs remain exposed when interventions move ahead of security conditions, while public spending may fail to produce lasting results.
Amuchie says safety measures should reflect the task at hand: restoring classes may call for a different security plan from keeping a transport corridor open. He also argues that aid efforts should proceed as authorities work to re-establish control.
Neither text explains how to calculate the score or demonstrates its use in an identified territory. Sundiata Post Knowledge Lab has announced plans to publish a methodology and indicator guide, but has not given a release date.
