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Today in 1976, Black History Month was celebrated

Today in 1976, Black History Month was celebrated for the first time. #RxHistory⏳

On 1 February 1976, the month of February was celebrated as Black History Month for the first time in the United States of America, dedicated to honouring and celebrating the ‘often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans’ throughout American history.

Also known as African-American History Month, the celebration was born out of ‘Negro History Week', an initiative developed by the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). ASNLH, founded in 1915 by historian, Carter G Woodson, and minister, Jesse E Moorland, was dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent.

Since 1976, every US president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history.

The theme of this year’s Black History Month is, ‘Black Resistance’ which explores how African Americans have resisted historic and ongoing oppression—in many forms—from America’s earliest days into the 21st century.
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📝: Wemimo Ogunmoyela
📷: 1) Dancers in a jazz club, Washington, D.C., between 1938 and 1948. Photograph by William P. Gottlieb, Library of Congress.
2) President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (center right) and others look on, August 6, 1965. LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto.
3) Department of the Army. Maj. Charity E. Adams and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell inspect the first contingent of African American members of the Women's Army Corps assigned to overseas service. England, February 15, 1945. NARA.
4) Senior preparatory class of Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, before 1906. Library of Congress.
5) Portait of Captain William T. Shorey and family, Oakland, CA 1898. Black History Album / FLICKR.
6) Former enslaved families in post-civil war South America.

What Does Chatham House Have to Do With Us? #OnSit

What Does Chatham House Have to Do With Us? #OnSite⚡️

Have you wondered why Nigerian politicians keep making their way to Chatham House? What is Nigeria’s history with Chatham House?

In our latest online essay, associate editor at The Republic, Afoma Dike, discusses Chatham House and its involvement with Nigeria. She discusses the reasons why it may appeal to Nigerian presidential hopefuls and what the persistent interest in the London-based institution indicates regarding the mindset of our potential leaders.

According to Dike: ‘The fact that a “neutral forum” must be sought outside of Nigeria, can only be a reflection of a deep mistrust of the country that many of the speakers themselves have pledged to snatch from the jaws of corruption. In a very divided landscape, the colonial power is still seen as a mutual arbiter. It is very telling also that most meetings in the lead up to Nigeria’s independence in 1960 were held in London. History continues to repeat itself. An unfortunate legacy of the Buhari years might be an increasing pivot towards placing more importance on foreign institutions than on national ones. This was made evident through Bola Tinubu’s avoidance of the Arise TV debate, when compared with his determined presence at Chatham House, despite his evident ill-preparedness.’

Read the full essay at the link in bio.
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📝 : Afoma Dike, Associate Editor
📷 : Chatham House / CHATHAMHOUSE. ORG

Today in 1985, President P. W. Botha offered to fr

Today in 1985, President P. W. Botha offered to free Nelson Mandela from prison. #RxHistory⏳
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On 31 January 1985, South African president, P. W. Botha, offered to free Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANC), from the prison sentence he had been serving since the conclusion of the Rivonia trial in 1964. This was on the condition that he renounced violence, and violent protest, as a means to bring about change in South Africa. Mandela refused the offer.
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The ANC is a political party in South Africa that originally attempted to use non-violent protests to end apartheid. Mandela joined the ANC in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League. After the ANC was banned in 1960, Mandela and others founded an ANC military wing. He and other wing leaders were jailed in 1964 when police found their headquarters.
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In response to the offer by President Botha, Mandela stated that the ANC only adopted violence as a means of protest ‘When other forms of resistance were no longer open to us'. Mandela called on Botha to renounce violence, dismantle apartheid, legalize the ANC, free political prisoners, permit exiles to return to South Africa, and grant Black people the right to free political activity.
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On 3 February 1990, President F. W. de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and released Mandela from prison on 11 February 1990. Mandela immersed himself in official talks to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected the ANC president. He was inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically-elected president on 10 May 1994.

Read more on African history at the link in bio.
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📝: Etashe Okpola and Chiamaka Dike.
📷: 1) Nelson Mandela meeting with President P. W. Botha. Cape Town. 5 July 1989, From L-R: unknown, Nelson Mandela, Niël Barnard, P. W. Botha, Kobie Coetsee. TERS EHLER.

Who is the Governor of Osun State? #RxNews📡 Th

Who is the Governor of Osun State? #RxNews📡

The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal annulled the 16 July 2022 elections

On Friday, the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo declared former governor Adegboyega Oyetola to be the duly elected governor of the state over Ademola Adeleke, who emerged victorious in the 16 July 2022 elections.

The majority judgement, read by Justice Tertse Kume, said Oyetola scored the majority lawful votes of 314,931 against Adeleke’s 290,266. Kume held that the tribunal observed over-voting in 744 polling units, spanning ten local councils including Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, Ejigbo, Ila, Ilesa West, Irepodun, Obokun, Olorunda and Osogbo.

On 16 July 2022, INEC winner of the Osun governorship election. The returning officer, vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, announced that Adeleke won with a total of 403,371 votes over Oyetola who got 375,027 votes and won in 13 local government areas. Oyetola moved to nullify the election, claiming it had been marred with ‘irregularities’. On 05 August 2022, actions at the Election Petitions Tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital, began.

Both parties have since responded to the tribunal’s decision to annul the July 16 polls. Adeleke, who intends to appeal, has described the judgement as ‘a miscarriage of justice’, while Oyetola has voiced his satisfaction with the tribunal’s verdict.

Read the full story at link in our bio.
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📝: Hillary Essien, Senior Associate Editor
📷: Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke / PREMIUM TIMES

Today in 2010, the MEND ended its truce with the N

Today in 2010, the MEND ended its truce with the Nigerian government. #RxHistory⏳
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On 30 January 2010, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) called off its unilateral truce and threatened an ‘all-out onslaught' against the oil industry in Niger Delta.
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MEND is one of the largest militant groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The loose coalition of armed groups emerged in late 2005 to early 2006, targeting the oil infrastructure in the area, and abducting and holding oil workers for ransom. Although the group claims to be fighting for local control of oil resources in the region, it has been accused of engaging in criminal activities, committing acts of extortion, and stealing oil for its own benefit.
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On 25 October 2009, MEND declared a truce to foster meaningful dialogues with oil executives and government officials in Nigeria. However, three months later, the group called off the truce, citing the lack of commitment of the Nigerian government towards returning ownership and control of Niger Delta lands to its people. The announcement was made at the time when Nigeria was grappling with uncertainty over the health of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua who was receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia.
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Since the emergence of militant groups in the Niger Delta region in the 1990s, several factions have emerged, with groups like MEND renamed to the Reformed Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (RMEND). According to a 2020 report by Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta, more than 1013 people died from militant-related conflicts in the region in 2019.

Read more on African history at the link in our bio.
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📝: Etashe Okpola and Chiamaka Dike.
Crude oil spills from a pipeline in the Niger Delta. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde

Race as powerful fiction. #Onsite⚡ - After 16 ye

Race as powerful fiction. #Onsite⚡
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After 16 years of living in the Middle East, Andile Zulu returned to South Africa. On one occasion, a close friend revealed to Andile that he did not like Black men, because they are not attractive and are aggressive. In this Black Atlantic essay, Andile writes about the experience:
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‘In my undergraduate years I saw the white gaze recreated in the vicious faces of policemen surveying a crowd of protesting university students. It caused a burning itch in the mind when white joggers offered nervous, strained smiles as I passed them on an empty street. No, this sensation was not new but in that particular moment the sting felt harsher. Through that confession, my close friend who I had a huge crush on, reminded me of a chasm that existed between us, an asymmetry that turned us into hostile strangers One that was erected by the past and alive in the present. Luke’s confession was just one manifestation of Apartheid’s numerous legacies. Is it surprising that those who often only see us as their servants, savage criminals, as angry mobs or clowns for their entertainment, would fail to see Black as beautiful?’
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Read the full essay by clicking the link in our bio.
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📝: Andile Zulu

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