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September 28, 2022

Femi Osofisan’s Unmistakeable Voice

The Apostle of Social Resolution Femi Osofisan’s Unmistakeable Voice

September 28, 2022

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‘Writing a Book for Children is Not as Easy as One Might Think’ Efua Traoré’s First Draft

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Femi Osofisan’s Unmistakeable Voice. #OnSite⚡️
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In 1979, a popular feature article published in Daily Times described playwright, Femi Osofisan, as an ‘apostle of social resolution.’ At the time, he was a 33-year-old lecturer of Comparative African and European literature. In our latest online essay, Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí, Nigerian critic and writer, argues that more than 40 years since that article was published, Osofisan still continues to further social revolution.
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From Osofisan‘s commitment to the oppressed, which includes uplifting the underprivileged and promoting gender equality, to his literary prowess, Ìbíyẹmí states that Osofisan is ‘one of Africa’s most important living playwrights’. For Ìbíyẹmí, it is Osofisan’s ability to draw upon a myriad of sources to create his own distinct voice, that sets him apart from other Nigerian writers between the 1970’s and the 1980’s.
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According to Ìbíyẹmí, Osofisan’s ’gentle but forceful voice is unmistakeable. One of Nigeria’s finest thinkers, the originality of his work evinces a keen understanding of history and current affairs. Osofisan has not only contributed to Nigerian literature, activism and history, our society is also better as a result of his interventions.’

Read the full essay by clicking the link in our bio.
______________________
📝: Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí
🖼: Onyinye Dike, Art Director

Today in 2012, Nigeria suspended all Hajj flights

Today in 2012, Nigeria suspended all Hajj flights to Saudi Arabia. #RxHistory⏳
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On 28 September 2012, Nigeria suspended all Hajj flights to Saudi Arabia after the authorities there initially deported more than 170 women who had arrived without a male guardian. A further 1,000 women were held in detention centres in Jeddah airport in Mecca, some for up to five days, before eventually being expelled from the country.
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This was the first time Saudi Arabia sent back such a large group in enforcement of strict rules governing women. During their detention, the women reportedly slept on bare floors and were offered nothing but water in conditions that were ’not fit for humans’. This sparked a diplomatic war between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
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Until August 2019, under Saudi law, women needed to be accompanied by their male legal guardian — which could be a father, brother, or husband — in order to travel. Saudi law held that women were ’minors’ who required permission from a male relative to work, leave the country or, in some cases, receive medical treatment.
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Nigerian officials responsible for organizing the hajj said that three planes were turned back from the Saudi city of Medina. According to Nigeria’s Saudi ambassador, Abubakar Shehu Bunu, it had previously been agreed that the Nigerian women could perform the pilgrimage rites as long as they were accompanied by local officials once they were in Saudi Arabia.

Read more in Today's Newsletter which goes out at 6 p.m. (WAT). Sign up at the link in our bio.
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📝: Afoma Dike, Junior Editor
📷: 1) Muslims pray at the Grand Mosque during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca. Waleed Ali/Reuters
2) Nigerian Hajj pilgrims leave the airport after being denied entry by Saudi Arabian officials. AFP/Getty Images

Today in 1961, Sierra Leone was admitted into the

Today in 1961, Sierra Leone was admitted into the UN. #RxHistory⏳
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On 27 September 1961, five months after its independence from Britain, Sierra Leone was granted full admission into the United Nations, becoming its 100th member.
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A former settlement of freed enslaved people, Sierra Leone became a British crown colony in 1808. It served as British West Africa’s educational centre, becoming, in 1827, home to the first European-style university in western Sub-Saharan Africa, the Fourah Bay College.
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In 1924, the British divided the country into a colony and a protectorate, leading to antagonism between the two regions. After World War II, educated nationalists from the protectorate began to demand independence from Britain. In 1951, they joined forces with powerful paramount chiefs to form the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), led by Sir Milton Margai.
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In April 1960, Margai led a delegation to London to negotiate for independence. Following this, the UK granted Sierra Leone independence on 27 April 1961, paving the way for the country to be admitted into the UN five months later.
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📝: Adams Adeosun x Ugonna Eronini
📷: 1) Sir Milton A.S. Margai (right), of Sierra Leone, is seen with Mrs. Golda Meir, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel; Dr. John Karefa-Smart (left), Minister for External affairs of Sierra Leone; and Mr. H. Maurice-Jones, of the Delegation of Sierra Leone. UN Photo
2) General Assembly Admits Sierra Leone as 100th UN Member, 1961. UN Photo/MB
3) (Left to right) the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Home (United Kingdom); Mr. Jaja Wachuku, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria; Sir Milton A.S. Margai, Prime Minister of Sierra Leone; and Ambassador Gershon B. O. Collier, of Sierra Leone, 1961. UN Photo

Today in 1921, Cyprian Ekwensi was born. #RxHistor

Today in 1921, Cyprian Ekwensi was born. #RxHistory⏳
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On 26 September 1921, Nigerian writer, Cyprian Ekwensi, was born in Minna, Niger state.⠀
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A native of Anambra state, Ekwensi attended Government College, Ibadan, before proceeding to Ghana to complete his secondary school education. He later returned to Ibadan to study at the School of Forestry after which he worked for two years as a forestry officer.⠀
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Ekwensi also worked at the Nigerian Broadcasting Company and the Ministry of Information, where he became director. In 1966, before the Nigerian Civil War, he resigned from this position and moved to Enugu with his family. Later, he served as chair of the Bureau for External Publicity of the newly established Biafra.⠀
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Ekwensi wrote a lot of short stories and novels in his life, receiving many awards and honours. His first international recognition came in 1954, with the publication of his novel, People of the City. Subsequently, he published the acclaimed novels, The Drummer Boy and Jagua Nana.
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📝: Adams Adeosun x Ugonna Eronini
📷: 1) Nigerian author, journalist, broadcaster and pharmacist Cyprian Odiatu Diaka Ekwensi at BBC Radio Studios, London circa 1952. BBC News
2) Ekwensi. Getty Images
3) People of the City by Cyprian Ekwensi. Goodreads

‘The Deep Blue Between’ — Ayesha Haruna Atta

‘The Deep Blue Between’ — Ayesha Haruna Attah

‘I love any stories that suggests the possibility of the supernatural; stories that question the reality in which we live, that search for hidden truths in old myths or ask that question, “what if?”. It can just be a vague sense of the supernatural pervading a book, giving it that wonderfully mystical vibe.’

Have you read this book? What do you think about it? For more book recommendations, click the link in our bio.
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📝: Efua Traoré

How Europe and America still under-develop Africa.

How Europe and America still under-develop Africa. #OnSite⚡⁠
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Much of the literature on poor resource management in African countries has focused on weak domestic institutions.⁠
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In this online essay, Shaquille Gilpin argues that the role of western corporations in the mismanagement of African resources must be considered before solutions are proposed.⁠
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Multinational corporations present in resource-rich countries, such as Sierra Leone, often use clandestine tax-dodging techniques to avoid taxation. Some have even been accused of funding armed conflicts in countries to destabilize and loot mineral wealth.⁠
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By overlooking the role played by corporations, ‘western scholarship exonerates western organizations from any responsibility in the mishandling of African natural resources,' and shifts the blame to African leaders, Gilpin argues.⁠
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‘The overall development of Sierra Leone, and many other resource-dependent countries in the global South, will be impeded as long as western organizations use disproportionate financial power to exploit resources.'⁠
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Read the full essay by clicking the link in our bio.
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📝: Shaquille Gilpin⁠
📷: Diamond miners in Kono, Sierra Leone. Photo: TOMMY E. TRENCHARD

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