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Ibrahim Anifowoshe

‘I Don’t Believe in Canons.’ Ibrahim Anifowoshe’s First Draft

Ibrahim Anifowoshe·

First Draft Interviews October/November 2020 Reading Eid

·October 30, 2020

Wardah Abbas

‘I Don’t Write Without Looking Back’ Wardah Abbas’ First Draft

August/September 2020 First Draft Interviews Reading Eid

·August 26, 2020

Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu

‘Anger is Great for Writing.’ Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu’s First Draft

Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu·

August/September 2020 First Draft Interviews Reading Eid

·August 12, 2020

Reading Eid

This Eid, read our selected essays and interviews about Islam, Muslim Identities and Cultures in Nigeria and across Africa. (Scroll down for more.)

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Today in 1993, Nigerians voted in what is widely c $Today in 1993, Nigerians voted in what is widely considered the freest and fairest election in the country’s history. #RPUBLCHistory⏳️⁠ ⁠ Chief Moshood Abiola was on track to be declared the winner before military head of state Ibrahim Babangida annulled the results. The event derailed a democratic transition, but also marked the beginning of the end for Nigeria’s socialist left.⁠ ⁠ In ‘The Shadow of June 12’, Baba Aye examines why the left, once central to Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle, lost its footing in the aftermath June 12. The left had helped drive the resistance to military rule.⁠ ⁠ Organizations like the Campaign for Democracy, and other socialist groups organized protests, built coalitions, and set the ideological tone for a future democratic Nigeria. But when the time came to translate movement into political power, the left fractured.⁠ ⁠ The challenge wasn’t just state repression, but a lack of cohesive political strategy. After the annulment, some on the left backed Abiola. Others saw him as a symbol of capitalist elitism. Some were pulled by ethnic loyalties. The unity that once defined them splintered, and with it, their influence.By 1999’s return to civilian rule, many former leftists had joined the establishment.⁠ ⁠ June 12 haunts Nigeria not just because of what happened, Aye argues, but because of what didn’t.⁠ ⁠ Read more by clicking the image in the link in bio⁠ ___________⁠ 📝: Baba Aye⁠ 📷: Moshood Abiola at a press conference. 27 August 1993. Eddie Mulholland / IMS Vintage Photos.⁠$

The Fading Pride of Ikoyi Cemetery #OnSite⚡⁠
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After many years of poor maintenance, Ikoyi Cemetery now lies in quiet decay. It has transitioned into a fading archive of legacy and societal pride. Cemeteries like Ikoyi and Ajele reflected who a society chose to remember, and how remembrance shaped the civic and cultural life of Lagos. ⁠
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In the race to modernize, Lagos risks losing the values embedded in how it once honoured its past. To walk through Ikoyi Cemetery today is to witness the slow fading of collective memory—and with it, the pride of a city that once took remembrance seriously.⁠
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Today’s essay is a visual presentation by Kelechi Anabaraonye that illustrates the declining state of this final resting place and the contributing factors, like the modernization of Lagos, plaguing the space.⁠
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Read the full essay by clicking this image in the link in bio or our IG story.⁠
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📝: Kelechi Anabaraonye (@jessekujagbor)⁠
📸: Cover Photo Illustration by Dami Mojid (@dami_mojid) / THE REPUBLIC. Photography by Kelechi Anabaraonye.⁠
🔍: Chinonye Otuonye, Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors.

Today in 1932, South African playwright, Athol Fug

Today in 1932, South African playwright, Athol Fugard, was born. #RPUBLHistory⏳️⁠
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On 11 June 1932, Harold Athol Fugard, South African actor, novelist and playwright of anti-apartheid works such as ‘Sizwe Bansi is Dead’, was born. He was born in Middleburg, South Africa to an Irish father and an Afrikaner mother.⁠
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Read more about South African politics by clicking the image in the link in bio. ⁠
____________⁠
📝: Mira-belle Ajayi⁠
📷️: 1) Athol Fugard. IMDB⁠
2)Athol Fugard in discussion at the University of California, 1991. Flexible Fotography/Flickr. ⁠
3) Actors at a dress rehearsal for Blood Knot, Monomoy Theatre, Massachusetts, August 2014. Elliot Dodd/Sarah Sierszyn/Flickr. ⁠

The Timeless Solutions of the Gadaa System #OnSite

The Timeless Solutions of the Gadaa System #OnSite⚡⁠
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As African states face a crisis of public trust in their democracies, academics and policymakers look to indigenous governance models as a substitute for the current system. One such substitute is the Oromo people’s Gadaa system. ⁠
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With its deep roots in communal involvement, consensus and responsibility, this long-standing system questions whether democracy is indeed a foreign institution on the African continent or whether justice and participatory democracy have long been part of the continent’s cultural and political fabric.⁠
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Author, Nicholas Kimble explores this ancient system of conflict resolution and how it measures up against Western democracy in Africa.⁠
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Read the full essay by clicking this image in the link in bio or our IG story.⁠
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📝: Nicholas Kimble⁠
📸: Illustration by Sheed Sorple Cecil / THE REPUBLIC.⁠
🔍: Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors.

Limited Edition Print Alert!🚨 This vibrant il

Limited Edition Print Alert!🚨

This vibrant illustration by Shalom Ojo captures the electric energy of live theatre, referencing Wole Soyinka’s ‘Canticles of a Pyre Foretold’, staged at the Soyinka Theatre, University of Ibadan in 2024.

Featured in our V9 N1 print issue, ‘Demas Nwoko’s Natural Synthesis’ and paired with the essay, ‘Towards a True Nigerian Theatre’ by Ijapa O, this artwork is a confluence of Nigeria’s enduring creativity and visual storytelling.

Order now via the link on our IG story or click this reel via the link in our bio.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Fragility of Gende

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Fragility of Gendered Power in Africa #OnSite⚡⁠
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After accusing Nigeria’s senate president of sexual harassment, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended for six months. Her case reveals a brutal truth about African politics: representation doesn’t always mean protection. African women in politics who speak out are often punished more harshly than the men they accuse.⁠
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Nigeria, despite signing global treaties and passing anti-violence laws, still protects its powerful more than its victims. Even women with status like Akpoti-Uduaghan are reminded just how precarious their power is. ⁠
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As feminist voices grow louder across the continent, the question becomes impossible to ignore:⁠
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If even a senator isn't safe when she speaks out, what does safety look like for the rest of us?⁠
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Read their perspective on the war between gender and African politics by clicking this image in the link in bio or our IG story.⁠
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___________⁠
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📝: Olajumoke Ayandele and Chioma Okafor⁠
📸: Photo Illustration by Dami Mojid (@dami_mojid) / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref: NATASHA AKPOTI / IG.⁠
🔍: Ololade Faniyi (@lolamargaret_), Peace Yetunde Onafuye (@yetundeandbooks), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors.

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