Lagos gone to seed
The Nigerian drama 'Òlòtūré,' about sex work and sex trafficking in the country’s commercial capital, which premiered on Netflix, is mostly uncomfortable. And not in a good way.
Nigeria
The radical politics of women’s bodies
Women in Nigeria's Kaduna state march naked and partially dressed to demand an end to deadly violence. In the process, they challenge norms about the female body.
Good influence
It is unfair to expect coherent politics from Naira Marley or his fans, the Marlians. We should, instead, chastise the Nigerian state for stifling its people and keeping its young perpetually waiting.
Building a revolutionary party in Nigeria
On the second anniversary of Nigeria’s African Action Congress party, it is time to take stock of its track record and political prospects.
A rare cinematic portrait of queer women’s intimacy in Nigeria
The new short film "Ifé" is a moving story about the delights and difficulties of human relationships.
Nigeria’s faltering anti-corruption war
The recent suspension of Nigeria’s anti-corruption tsar provides an opportunity to re-assess the country's anti-corruption approach.
Naira Marley is no revolutionary
A fan of rapper Naira Marley writes that it will take more than counter-cultural popularity to effect any tangible change in Nigeria.
A private city
Eko Atlantic in Lagos, like Tatu City in Nairobi, Kenya; Hope City in Accra, Ghana; and Cité le Fleuve in Kinshasa, DRC, point to the rise of private cities. What does it mean for the rest of us?
GMOs for Africa?
Rather than addressing food scarcity, genetically modified crops may render African farmers and scientists more, not less, reliant on global markets.
Des OGM pour l’Afrique?
Plutôt que de pallier l’insécurité alimentaire, les cultures génétiquement modifiées risquent de rendre les agriculteurs et les scientifiques africains plus, et non moins, dépendants des marchés mondiaux.
White eyes
Pressure on African writers to avoid the criticism of poverty porn limits the imagination of the writer and the ability to speak truth to power.
Face-me-I-face-you
The irony of preaching social distancing to those living in close urban dwellings in Lagos exposes the crass nature of class disparities in Nigeria.
Society as we know it
The hashtag movement #WeAreTired highlights that rape is an epidemic in Nigeria, but nobody in power wants to tackle it.
A deafening salvo
With a new book, Chimurenga resurrects Festac, the blackest and largest ever gathering of artists from Africa and its diaspora in 1977 in Lagos, Nigeria.
The Niger Delta, oil, and Trump’s America
Lessons for Americans in the age of Black Lives Matter, from the Niger Delta’s long struggle for environmental justice.
What does it mean to be African in a post-apartheid academy?
The Nigerian scholar and poet, Harry Garuba, who died in February 2020, was a key figure in African Studies and teaching literature in South Africa.
Exclusionary city
The destruction of Tarkwa Bay in Lagos and the battle over what makes a city and who belongs in it.
The afterghosts of protest
Jumoke Verissimo’s first novel, A Small Silence, explores the psychic afterlives of protest in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.
The most powerful man in Nigeria
The legacy of Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who died from COVID-19, helps us understand how powerful and yet constrained Nigeria's Presidency is.
Wole Soyinka’s little known musical endeavors
Among other notable achievements, Wole Soyinka made political music. In 1983, he even released an album.