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vol. 8, no. 4

REIMAGINING NIGERIAN HERITAGE

Our latest issue, Reimagining Nigerian Heritage, focuses on the unknown and underdiscussed stories that reflect the richness of Nigeria’s heritage across its different cultures.

Purchase an annual print + digital subscription, and get unlimited access to The Republic. We ship worldwide.

Every year, The Republic publishes the most ambitious writing focused on Africa, from news and analysis to long-form features.
Support our award-winning coverage by subscribing today. 
Our print + digital subscription is 50% off. 

vol. 8, no. 4

REIMAGINING NIGERIAN HERITAGE

Our latest issue, Reimagining Nigerian Heritage, focuses on the unknown and underdiscussed stories that reflect the richness of Nigeria’s heritage across its different cultures.

Purchase an annual print + digital subscription, and get unlimited access to The Republic. We ship worldwide.

This Week’s Essentials

Our top analyses, debates, ideas and stories of the week.

minimum wage

HEADLINE STORY / THE MINISTRY OF BUSINESS X THE ECONOMY

Nigeria’s 70,000 Naira Sham

The Nigerian government recently approved an increase in the country’s minimum wage from N30,000 (approximately US$20) to N70,000 (approximately $47). While this increase aims to ease the financial strain on many Nigerians, the reality of the new minimum wage for the average citizen remains harsh.

Mambar Pierrette

THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / FILM DEPT.

Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto

THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / FIRST DRAFT INTERVIEWS

‘The Worst Thing to Tell a Poet Is That There Is No Money in Writing Poetry’ Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto’s First Draft

Nigerian poet and author of ‘The Last Time I Saw My Father’, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, believes many African stories are underappreciated: ‘The literary landscape is vast, and countless voices and stories have yet to receive the attention they truly deserve. It is not always about a single book but rather the collective body of work from diverse regions, cultures, and languages.’

Climate Action

THE MINISTRY OF CLIMATE CHANGE X THE ENVIRONMENT

Climate change is heating up the globe, causing poverty, destroying livelihoods, and making life unbearable. Addressing this crisis in Africa requires democratizing climate action and simplifying its messaging to make it accessible to everyone.

Protests

THE MINISTRY OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS

Cameroon

THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE X TECHNOLOGY

Cameroon’s Hi-Tech Illusion

Cameroon is currently led by the world’s oldest president, who claims to be taking significant steps to ‘modernize’ the state through digital technology. With Paul Biya seeking re-election in 2025, Cameroonians have an additional reason to be sceptical about his nationwide technology agenda.

Fact-checking

THE MINISTRY OF WORLD AFFAIRS

The Politicization of Fact-Checking

The role and perception of fact-checking in regions with fragile trust in media and government has sparked recent debates, as analysts question its effectiveness amid partisan exploitation by political actors.

Books

THE REPUBLIC RECOMMENDS

10 Books That Shaped Black History Over the Last Century

In our latest book recommendation, historian Kai Mora compiles a list of books that shaped Black history over the last century. From a book about the Haitian Revolution to one about the rise and fall of the Wolof Empire, these books exemplify the dynamism in the application of Black thought and history.

Ogoni

THE REPUBLIC PODCAST

S2 EP7: ‘We All Stand Before History’

How have the Ogoni people been able to come to terms with the execution of the Ogoni Nine, and deal with the unresolved environmental crisis caused by oil exploration till this day? What does the crisis in Ogoni and the Niger Delta more broadly tell us about what it means to be Nigerian? The seventh episode of the second season of The Republic is now available wherever you listen to podcasts.

Congo

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Mad Scramble for Congo

At the heart of Congo’s prolonged crises is a scramble for its natural resources, similar to the precolonial scramble for Africa. All hands must be on deck this time to protect the over 100 million Congolese lives caught in this unfortunate unending war.

ANNOUNCEMENT DESK

Onyeka Onwenu
#NIGERIANICON

The Endless Life of Onyeka Onwenu

Nigerian pop icon Onyeka Onwenu died earlier this year. With an iridescent career spanning decades, Onwenu’s knowledge of Nigeria’s failings ran as deep as her capacity to imagine and believe in a better Nigeria.

Cameroon

Cameroon’s Hi-Tech Illusion

Cameroon is currently led by the world’s oldest president, who claims to be taking significant steps to ‘modernize’ the state through digital technology. With Paul Biya seeking re-election in 2025,...

Fact-checking

The Politicization of Fact-Checking

The role and perception of fact-checking in regions with fragile trust in media and government has sparked recent debates, as analysts question its effectiveness amid partisan exploitation by political actors.

THE LATEST IN PRINT
VOL. 8, NO. 4
REIMAGINING NIGERIAN HERITAGE

Now Available: Our November 2024 – January 2025 Print Issue

Featuring: 
Republic editor, Wale Lawal, in conversation with Museum of West African Art director, Ore Disu; Emmanuel Esomnofu on the magic of musician, William Onyeabor; Kéchi Nne Nomu on the legendary influence of pop icon, Onyeka Onwenu, who died earlier this year; Ozoz Sokoh on the foods inspired by novelist, Buchi Emecheta; Yusuf Omotayo on the timelessness of Tunde Kelani’s Yoruba film classic, Ṣaworoìdẹ; and much more!

THE LATEST IN PRINT
VOL. 8, NO. 4
REIMAGINING NIGERIAN HERITAGE

Now Available: Our November 2024 – January 2025 Print Issue

Featuring: 
Republic editor, Wale Lawal, in conversation with Museum of West African Art director, Ore Disu; Emmanuel Esomnofu on the magic of musician, William Onyeabor; Kéchi Nne Nomu on the legendary influence of pop icon, Onyeka Onwenu, who died earlier this year; Ozoz Sokoh on the foods inspired by novelist, Buchi Emecheta; Yusuf Omotayo on the timelessness of Tunde Kelani’s Yoruba film classic, Ṣaworoìdẹ; and much more!

African Feminist Manifesto

vol.8 no.1 / EDITOR'S FOREWORD

‘An African Feminist Manifesto’

For whom is the transformative potential of feminism new? Our latest issue, An African Feminist Manifesto, considers the imperatives for Black African feminism(s) in our uniquely uncertain times, plus more.

queer

COVER ESSAY

A Queer Dream of New and Unassimilable Things

As the rest of the world watches the exodus of American users from TikTok to RedNote, it reveals a telling paradox: Western claims to digital freedom depend on portraying contexts like Africa and Asia as uniquely hostile repressive Others, while masking their own suppression of queer expression—a power dynamic that the Global South has long been co-opted to maintain.

Frida Orupabo

THE MINISTRY OF ARTs / PHOTO DEPT.

Abrahamic Tradition

THE MINISTRY OF MEMORIES

A Womanist Reading of African Women in Abrahamic Tradition

Though the presence of Abrahamic tradition within global Black consciousness often finds expression through male-dominated narratives, a closer examination uncovers Black women at the very centres of the most path-altering moments in the tradition, offering analogues with which Black women have interpreted, reimagined and reclaimed their past, present, and future.

Second Class Citizen

THE MINISTRY OF ARTs / BOOKS DEPT.

50 Years of Buchi Emecheta’s Second-Class Citizen

In 1974, Buchi Emecheta’s novel, Second-Class Citizen, was published. While this novel has inspired a generation of African writers, the themes Emecheta explored—such as Black immigrant life in the UK and the ills of a patriarchal society—remain as relevant today as ever.

Ogoni

S2 EP7: ‘We All Stand Before History’

How have the Ogoni people been able to come to terms with the execution of the Ogoni Nine, and deal with the unresolved environmental crisis caused by oil exploration till this day? What does the crisis in Ogoni and the Niger Delta more broadly tell us about what it means to be Nigerian? The seventh episode of the second season of The Republic is now available wherever you listen to podcasts.

continue reading

We get it. Sometimes the headline stories are just not enough.

ARTS & CULTURE

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BUSINESS & THE ECONOMY

minimum wage

Nigeria’s 70,000 Naira Sham

The Nigerian government recently approved an increase in the country’s minimum wage from N30,000 (approximately US$20) to N70,000 (approximately $47). While this increase aims to ease the financial strain on...

Oyetola

Gboyega Oyetola’s Blue Ministry

Nigeria’s Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy aims to harness the nation’s vast maritime potential but can Minister Gboyega Oyetola successfully navigate these complex waters?

HISTORY

Saro-Wiwa

S2 EP6: The Execution

Many Nigerians and international observers pushed for the Abacha regime to recall its sentence but on November 10 1995, they woke up to devastating news. From their homes, Nigerians wondered:...

Ogoni

S2 EP5: The Ogoni 8

Following the murders of the Ogoni chiefs, Rivers State military administrator, Lieutenant Colonel Dauda Musa Komo, and the Abacha regime finally had their way in to disrupt MOSOP. On May...

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POLITICS

Russian

Tinubu’s Russian Roulette

The hoisting of Russian flags in Nigeria during recent protests suggests how President Tinubu’s ECOWAS foreign policy gambles might have triggered pro-Russian sentiments in Nigeria.

RADIO REPUBLIC

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Cameroon

Cameroon’s Hi-Tech Illusion

Cameroon is currently led by the world’s oldest president, who claims to be taking significant steps to ‘modernize’ the state through digital technology. With Paul Biya seeking re-election in 2025,...

Aya Care

Aya Care’s Sudden Fame

After going viral on social media, the women-led team at sanitary pad provider, Aya Care, found themselves at the centre of a renewed discussion about menstrual hygiene in Nigeria. What...

WORLD AFFAIRS

Fact-checking

The Politicization of Fact-Checking

The role and perception of fact-checking in regions with fragile trust in media and government has sparked recent debates, as analysts question its effectiveness amid partisan exploitation by political actors.

Congo

The Mad Scramble for Congo

At the heart of Congo’s prolonged crises is a scramble for its natural resources, similar to the precolonial scramble for Africa. All hands must be on deck this time to...

China

Congo-Brazzaville’s Chinese Roulette

As new co-chair of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) until 2027, what does the relationship between the Republic of Congo (or Congo-Brazzaville) and China illuminate about global economic interests,...

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