AfricaIs aCountry

Yar’Adua est mort

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Yar’Adua est mort

By
Sean Jacobs

Al Jazeera English is first out of the gate with an analysis of the life of the Nigerian President who died yesterday, but has been bedridden and in hiding for months–first in Saudi Arabia from November last year till February this year and from then at his official residence–while his appropriately named deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, governs the country.

As a result, Yar’Adua’s passing comes as an anti-climax, except his aides and those who were lied about his condition so as to maintain their tenuous access to power and resources and 419 scammers to whom his dead represent new plot twists to their elaborate scams to lure prospective victims to part with their money.

Western media will probably run the usual cliches tomorrow and the day after, so for some real analysis, I’d suggest checking out Nigeria’s vibrant media instead.

Think Next, The Vanguard, The Punch and, of course, This Day. Same for its blogosphere, both inside Nigeria and its diaspora: Naijablog, Nigerianstalk, Loomnie, Akin and Suleiman’s Blog.

Further Reading

Progress is exhausting

Pedro Pinho’s latest film follows a Portuguese engineer in Guinea-Bissau, exposing how empire survives through bureaucracy, intimacy, and the language of “development.”

The rubble of empire

Built by Italian Fascists in 1928, Mogadishu Cathedral was meant to symbolize “peaceful conquest.” Today its ruins force Somalis to confront the uneasy afterlife of colonial power and religious authority.

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.