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Chigozie Obioma

‘Don’t Let What Is in Vogue Decide What or How You Write’ Chigozie Obioma’s First Draft

Chigozie ObiomaAugust 19, 2022

Chigozie Obioma

is the author of An Orchestra of Minorities and The Fishermen.

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Today in 2005, the Sosoliso plane crash that shook

Today in 2005, the Sosoliso plane crash that shook Nigeria occurred. #RxHistory⏳⁠
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On 10 December 2005, Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145, a domestic passenger flight carrying 109 people from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, crashed at the Port Harcourt International Airport.⁠
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As the plane approached a runway at the airport, it slammed into the ground and broke apart, crashed into a concrete platform, and then burst into flames. At the time of the crash, there was no water in the Port Harcourt International Airport, causing an intensification of the inferno.⁠
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Emergency fire support had to be provided by a private actor–Shell Petroleum. 107 passengers died, including the entire flight crew and 60 students of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja, who were on their way home for the Christmas holidays after the school session.⁠
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The plane was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, manufactured in 1973, one of several ‘fairly-used' airliners sold to Sosoliso after failing to meet European aviation standards. During an earlier flight, the plane had been sent for maintenance because of unusual noises it was emitting. But it returned to flight without the problem being resolved.⁠
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The runway lights at the airport were off despite the cloudy weather, because it lacked electricity at the time. Nigeria's Accident Investigation Bureau concluded that the probable cause of the crash was the crew's decision to continue descent towards the runway in low visibility conditions.⁠
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📝: Wemimo Ogunmoyela⁠
📷: 1) Sosoliso Airlines plane. Vanguard.⁠
2) A woman is consoled by her relatives after she identifies the corpse of her late husband, a victim of the Sosoliso plane crash in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, on 12 December 2005. George Osodi / APA⁠
3) Transport Minister looks at wreckage. Pius Utomi Ekpei / Getty.⁠
4) Sosoliso1145 Crash site. Pius Utomi Ekpei / Getty Images.

The Nigerian book that made Muthoni Muiruri cry. #

The Nigerian book that made Muthoni Muiruri cry. #OnSite⚡️⁠
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Kenyan publisher and co-founder of Soma Nami Books, Muthoni Muiruri, loves to read books that are intellectually stimulating and evoke an emotional reaction: ‘If a book makes me cry and teaches me empathy; if the characters stay with me long after reading, I consider that a forever book. I am also extremely grateful for books that teach me something, that challenge me and force me to reckon with my ignorance and biases and that compel me to want to research and learn.’⁠
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In our latest First Draft interview, Muiruri discussed common misconceptions about reading; the works of Kenyan authors such as Troy Onyango and Joan Thatiah; why Finding Me by Viola Davis is the perfect gift for the holiday season; and other interesting perspectives on reading and writing.⁠
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According to Muiruri: ‘We know very little about the personal lives of historical figures and this fascinates me—how they loved, how they hurt, how they felt, and what moved them.’⁠
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Read the full interview at the link in our bio.⁠
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_______________________⁠
📝: Muthoni Muiruri (@this_bookishgirl)⁠
🔎: Peace Onafuye (@yetundeandbooks), Editor⁠⁠
🎨: Kevwe Ogini, Illustrator

Today in 1948, a UN treaty designated genocide as

Today in 1948, a UN treaty designated genocide as an international crime. #RxHistory⏳️⁠
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On 09 December 1948, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and it declared genocide, the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnicity, as a crime under international law. ⁠
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After the atrocities committed during the Second World War, the Genocide Convention became the first human rights treaty adopted, signifying a commitment to prevent wartime incidents like the Holocaust, the Nanjing Massacre and for Africa, the infamous Rwandan Genocide. ⁠
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The Rwandan Genocide was a systematic campaign by the Hutu ethnic majority in 1994 which was aimed at wiping out each and every member of the minority Tutsi group. The genocide was set into motion by the death of Rwanda's Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana, when his plane was shot down by an unknown missile. ⁠
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The Hutu-controlled government and allied militias slaughtered between 800,000 and one million Tutsis before a Tutsi rebel group overthrew them. Over 100,000 Hutus were also killed, including both moderate Hutus killed by Hutu extremists and those killed by Tutsis in so-called ‘revenge killings.’ ⁠
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Swipe to learn more, and read more stories about African history at the link in our bio.⁠
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📝: Chiamaka Dike⁠
📷: 1) A Hutu man whose face was mutilated by the Hutu Interahamwe militia, who suspected him of sympathizing with the Tutsi rebels. James Nachtwey Archive, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth.⁠
2) The massacre site at the Rukara parish in Kabgayi, Rwanda, in April 1994.Gilles Peress/Magnum Photos.3) Paul Kagame, left, the leader of the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, near Kigali in 1994.Gilles Peress/Magnum Photos⁠
3) Delegates from countries that signed the UN Genocide Convention. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gift of United Nations

We Need to Talk About the Nobel Prize Bias #OnSite

We Need to Talk About the Nobel Prize Bias #OnSite⚡⁠
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Winning the Literature and Peace Nobel Prizes has been crucial to Black literature and resistance. But what does a history of omission in the other elusive categories mean?⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read the full essay at the link in our bio.⁠
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📝: Kéchi Nne Nomu (@nuanio)⁠
🔎: Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo); Editor⁠
🎨: Dami Mojid (@dami_mojid) / THE REPUBLIC.⁠

Today in 1938, former president of Ghana, John Kuf

Today in 1938, former president of Ghana, John Kufuor, was born. #RxHistory⏳️⁠
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On 08 December 1938, John Agyekum Kufuor, a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009, was born in Kumasi, Gold Coast.⁠
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Kufuor was the 7th of 10 children of Nana Kwadwo Agyekum, an Asante royal, and Nana Ama Dapaah, a queen mother. In 1959, he moved to London after being accepted into Lincoln’s Inn to study law. In 1961, he was called to the London bar. In the following year, he was called to the bar in Ghana before graduating from Exeter College in 1964.⁠
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In 1967, Kufour became chief legal officer and town clerk for the city of Kumasi. By 1969 he became a member of parliament and deputy foreign minister in the government of Kofi Abrefa Busia.⁠
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Kufuor ran for presidency in 1996 but lost to Jerry Rawlings. On 23 October 1998, he was re-nominated by the New Patriotic Party not only to run for president again but also to assume the position of party leader. Kufuor won the presidential election of December 2000. He was sworn in as president of Ghana on 7 January 2001 and remained president until 7 January 2009 after winning the 2004 presidential election.⁠
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Swipe to learn more, and read more stories on Ghanaian history at the link in our bio.⁠
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_____________________⁠
📝: Peace Onafuye⁠
📷️: 1) John Kufuor. Embassy of Equitorial Guinea / Flickr⁠
2) John Agyekum Kufuor - World Economic Forum on Africa 2008 / Flickr

Nigerian Godpunk Comes of Age with Shigidi #OnSite

Nigerian Godpunk Comes of Age with Shigidi #OnSite⚡⁠
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Shigidi is a fine display of Wole Talabi’s dexterity as a writer and a demonstration of how grossly underutilized African mythology has been in world fantasy.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read the full #bookreview at the link in our bio.⁠
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_____________⁠
📝: Edwin Okolo (@edgothboy)⁠
🔎: Peace Onafuye (@yetundeandbooks), Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo); Editors⁠
🎨: Dami Mojid (@dami_mojid) / THE REPUBLIC.⁠

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