‘I Am Currently Writing Two Books’ Abel Gaiya’s First Draft
Nigerian author and development researcher, Abel Gaiya, believes West Africa is going in circles.
Culture & Society
This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s Afro-existentialist Experiment
This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection is the perfect afro-existentialist film, not because of the existential interstice implied in its title, but because of how it paints mystical and metaphysical pictures about the different types of death.
Black Mecca A Brief History of Black Islam from Africa to the Diaspora
By the second half of the twentieth century, Islam re-emerged as an ideological tool for African Americans fighting within civil rights and Black Power movements. Ironically, the proliferation of Black Islamic organizations in twentieth-century United States—most famously the Nation of Islam—often masks the gradual, centuries-long formation of said organizations, their ideologies, and their influence on modern Afro-diasporic identity.
Interim Royals The Marginalization of Women-Regents in Present-Day Yoruba Monarchy
Yoruba culture, particularly traditional leadership, holds that men are superior to women, so they dominate governance at most levels while women are considered unfit to lead in most cases. On these grounds, for women to assume the position of regents, tradition demands they discard their identities.
Wana Udobang’s Gospel of Freedom The Liberating Power of Storytelling
‘I know now that stories are infinite and everywhere,’ Wana Udobang says. ‘Some stories are urgent, some aren’t, there are always new stories to tell. This is part of my liberation practice: that life is infinite.’
Nigeria vs the South East The Glaring Igbophobia of the 2023 Elections
From pre-independence ethnic dog whistling, to pogroms, a civil war and the systemic socio-political ostracization that has since followed, the Igbo are the most discriminated ethnic group in Nigeria and ethnic bigotry against Igbo people has been on full display in the 2023 election.
Benin Today, Venice Tomorrow The Republic of Benin Will Debut at the 2024 Venice Biennale
The Republic of Benin announced that it will be debuting with a national pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale in Italy, which will hold from 20 April–24 November 2024. The announcement makes Benin the latest addition to the global art event which has been running since 1895.
‘I Wish I Had More Time to Write for Leisure’ Aby Sène’s First Draft
Senegalese academic and author, Aby Sène, believes pan-Africanism should not be presented in an alienating way.
Grief, the Royal Mantle, and an Appraisal of the Empire Book Review: Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Spare by Prince Harry ultimately makes obvious that Harry doesn’t want to change the status quo, but wants to be in the highest echelons of it, demanding racial equality at the top of a racist empire.
A Nation in Search of Glory Where is Nigerian Football When We Need it?
With constant calls for diversification of the economy, and another election season serving as a potent reminder of how polarized the country remains along ethnic lines, football holds a lot of untapped promise for the future of Nigeria.