The BBC news presenter Komla Dumor, who passed away this weekend from cardiac arrest, was an exceptional broadcaster; read Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie’s obit here. Everyone loved him. He was probably the most stylish newscaster also, and was well on his way to becoming the first globally recognized superstar news presenter originating from the continent. Dumor took journalism seriously. Just watch his last big interview where he took on Rwanda’s Ambassador to the UK about that country’s habit of murdering opposition figures. Dumor, known as Boss Player, also loved sport, basketball (he had skills), and, above all, the beautiful game. He especially loved his Ghana’s Black Stars.

Like here during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when Superman style, he ripped his shirt open to reveal his true identity:

Or last November when he celebrated Ghana’s qualification for Brazil 2014 by donning a lekarapa. And he seemed genuinely happy–like a fan–around footballers; like when he met Victor Moses (Liverpool and Nigeria) or thanked Sulley Muntari (AC Milan and Ghana) for the signed shirt for his son.

But it is this video, below–when Peter Okwoche, the BBC Focus on Africa sports presenter, challenged Komla to a game of keepie-uppie–that is my favorite memory of the Boss Player:

RIP Boss Player.

Further Reading

And do not hinder them

We hardly think of children as agents of change. At the height of 1980s apartheid repression in South Africa, a group of activists did and gave them the tool of print.

The new antisemitism?

Stripped of its veneer of nuance, Noah Feldman’s essay in ‘Time’ is another attempt to silence opponents of the Israeli state by smearing them as anti-Jewish racists.