August/September 2025
7 Books to Read if You Didn’t Study Nigerian History in School
In 1977, historian Obaro Ikime delivered a lecture, ‘History and the Changing Cultures of Nigeria’, responding to Alhaji Shetima Ali Munguno’s disapproval of what he saw at the University of Calabar. Ikime argued that one of Nigeria’s greatest problems is our ‘inadequate knowledge of history and the ways of life of the various groups that make up Nigeria.’ As Nigeria turns 65, it is important to return to that history. Read More...
The New Chapter in Nigeria’s Tax Story
Nigeria will begin 2026 with its biggest tax overhaul in decades. But what exactly is changing and will the new tax regime worsen or improve Nigeria’s economic and fiscal future? Read More...
The Women Turning a Private Ritual Into a Public Business
The guardians of ukungwi—a practice that educates girls and women on sex, homemaking and marriage—are reimagining their approach to this East African tradition. Today, they face a dilemma: the risk of losing the cultural essence of ukungwi while seeking to monetize it for sustainability. Read More...
The Nigerian Heart of Joop Berkhout
Joop Berkhout, an icon of Nigeria’s publishing industry for almost six decades, died in February 2025 in Ibadan. He nurtured generations of writers and built Spectrum Books into a publishing powerhouse, yet also embraced the ‘big man’ culture of his adopted country with remarkable ease. Read More...
10 African Writers on How They Actually Wrote Their Books
In our latest First Draft interview, we ask leading African writers, including Laila Lalami and Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, about their writing processes. Here's what the told us. Read More...
The Republic Wins at the 365: AIGA Year in Design 2024 Awards
The Republic’s 2024 print magazine run (Volume 8) has been named a winner at the 365: AIGA Year in Design 2024 Awards! Read More...
Liberia’s Complex Relationship with the United States
Since its founding in 1847, the story of Africa’s oldest republic, Liberia, has been entwined with that of the United States. Centuries later, in 2025, is Liberia’s relationship with America one of neo-imperialism or fair partnership? Read More...
Diaspora’s Struggle to Belong Home and Away
If the media plays an important role in the extreme portrayal of the West as a haven in the mind of the African, we might also assume that the same media largely has a role to play in the making of the self-perception of Africans. Read More...
Rema Wants a Seat at the ‘Big Three’ Table—Has He Earned It?
With sonic versatility and global reach, Rema is rewriting the rules of Afrobeats. But does that earn him a place alongside Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid? Read More...
You Are Still with Me
In Kenya, three young queer men built a family from stolen kisses, cheap alcohol, and poetry read aloud on thin mattresses, until the world that refused to make space for them claimed two of their lives. Read More...
