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

Writing while black

The film adaptation of Percival Everett’s novel ‘Erasure’ leaves little room to explore Black middle-class complicity in commodifying the traumas of Black working-class lives.

The Mogadishu analogy

In Gaza and Haiti, the specter of another Mogadishu is being raised to alert on-lookers and policymakers of unfolding tragedies. But we have to be careful when making comparisons.

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.