June/July 2025
Who Benefits From Nigeria’s Detty December?
The beginning of the second half of the year signals plans for Lagos’ glitzy Detty December, a seasonal spectacle that generates short-term profits for a privileged few while deepening inequality, fuelling inflation and missing opportunities for sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Read More...
Restrategizing Northern Nigerian Security Beyond Border Fences
Nigeria’s worsening insecurity cannot be curtailed by border fences alone, as suggested by the chief of defence staff, but by the government investing in border communities, strengthening local infrastructure and deepening cross-border cooperation with neighbouring countries. Read More...
Togo’s Fifth Republic Is Here—But at What Cost?
Long-standing fatigue with eroding civil liberties and authoritarianism in Togo has culminated in an outbreak of youth-led protests following constitutional changes ushering in Togo’s Fifth Republic. Is the creaking Gnassingbé dynasty finally under threat? Read More...
‘Read With Curiosity, Not Conclusion’ Ama Asantewa Diaka’s First Draft
With her latest short story collection, Ghanaian poet and author of Someone Birthed Them Broken, Ama Asantewa Diaka, set out to document the lives of contemporary youth in Ghana: ‘I wanted to create something that future youths could look back on—something they could hold up against their own lives and say, “This is where we came from. This is what it was like.”’ Read More...
5 Books That Read Like Tales by Moonlight
From the story of a troubled treasure hunter to that of a spirit child who chooses to remain in a crumbling world rather than escape to bliss of eternity, the books in this collection will cast a spell on you just like any tale by moonlight. Read More...
On Meeting Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
Sarah Ladipo Manyika reflects on her relationship with Kenyan literary giant, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and coming to terms with the complexities of his life. Read More...
Ghazouani at the Helm
While domestic challenges to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani’s legitimacy dimmed soon after he was re-elected as Mauritanian president last year, his attempt to balance competing external pressures risks reigniting the social tensions that underpinned the original mobilizations against his re-election. Read More...
Black Scholarship in Africanfuturism
Nnedi Okorafor's 'Death of the Author' is significant in imparting agency to its Black readers who want to explore africanfuturism, redefining Black scholarship through science fiction and proving that scientific development does not exclusively lie outside literature or within Western countries. Read More...
The Human Cost of Lagos Demolitions
When the government demolishes the building you live in, your property is not the only thing you lose. You also lose your self. Read More...
Reforming the Lagos Waste Management Ecosystem
The smell of Lagos is far more than a sensory inconvenience; it is a symptom of deeper urban management gaps, waste management inefficiencies, inconsistent policies and citizen irresponsibility. A comprehensive and inclusive approach to waste management is the only way to transform the city into a cleaner, healthier environment for all its residents. Read More...
