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An illustration of Abdulrasheed Isah

‘I Always Begin My Writing in My Mind.’ Abdulrasheed Isah's First Draft

Abdulrasheed Isah·April 9, 2021
Author of ‘A Common Currency For West Africa’, Abdulrasheed Isah, wishes he had discovered Arundhati Roy much earlier. ‘I am amazed at how she writes fascinating stories with profound rigour and simplicity… and how she uses fiction as a tool to fight social injustice. Few writers combine these qualities.’ Read More...
April/May 2021First DraftInterviews

Myths and Truths Jomo Kenyatta's Hollow Legacy

Edwin Chege·April 7, 2021
Jomo Kenyatta may be remembered as a prominent Kenyan nationalist and a leader of the Kenyan independence movement. However, his actual contributions to Kenya's independence fail to live up to his legacy. Read more. Read More...
April/May 2021Best of 2021: EssaysKenya

Introducing The Black Atlantic Real, Human Stories from Africa and the African Diaspora

The Republic·April 5, 2021
The Black Atlantic is our new project showcasing human stories centered on blackness from Africa and the African diaspora. Read More...
April/May 2021The Black Atlantic

The Excessive Debt Burdens of COVID-19 Development Financing in the Pandemic

Chimezie Anajama·March 31, 2021
As African governments attempt to battle the economic impacts of COVID-19, they must re-imagine development financing which will translate into efficiency in public expenditure and foresight in public investments that go hand in hand with inclusion, accountability and transparency as political norms and values. Read more. Read More...
February/March 2021Special Focus: COVID-19
An illustration of Paula Akugizibwe.

‘I Always Start With Structure and Flow.’ Paula Akugizibwe's First Draft

Paula Akugizibwe·March 26, 2021
Author of ‘(Purse) Strings Attached’, Paula Akugizibwe, used to resist ambiguity. More recently, however, ‘I’ve grown more comfortable with uncertainty if that’s what is most honest—both in my writing and in my lived experiences—and it’s liberating. Read our interview. Read More...
February/March 2021First DraftInterviews

The Zabarmari Massacre and the Politics of Reality Distortion Grief, Terrorist Attacks and an Apathetic Government

Theophilus Sokuma·March 24, 2021
The government's response to the Zabarmari Massacre shows that there is a deliberate attempt at reality distortion, with the government more concerned about saving face than bringing an end to insurgency. Read more. Read More...
February/March 2021
a young man sits during an EndSARS protest in Lagos

A Nation Divided ProSARS vs. EndSARS: A North/South Divide

Theophilus Sokuma·March 22, 2021
For a long time now, the interaction between the North and the South in Nigeria has been one void of empathy and mutual understanding. Read more. Read More...
Best of 2021: EssaysFebruary/March 2021

Read Something Achebe How to Win Our Chinua Achebe Giveaway

The Republic·March 20, 2021
This month, in partnership with Ouida Books, we are celebrating literary giant, Chinua Achebe, with a book and magazine giveaway. Read More Read More...
Dispatch
An illustration of Abimbola Alaba

‘I Always Think of Writing as Sculpting.’ Abimbola Alaba's First Draft

Abimbola Alaba·March 19, 2021
Author of ‘The Revolution Generation’, Abimbola Alaba thinks writing is just like sculpting. ‘There must be a mound of something—clay or wax or stone—to carve and chisel into a semblance of art.’ Read more. Read More...
February/March 2021First DraftInterviews

Travelers Of African Literature, Nomads and New Garments

Nzube Nlebedim·March 17, 2021
African literature is experiencing a paradigm shift from the old ideals to new ones. It is in a stage of rediscovery as it sheds off old notions of humanity and adorns fresh garments of new shades of colours. Read more. Read More...
February/March 2021

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We’re looking for the most interesting brands! ⁠ ⁠ For the first time since we officially launched in 2018, The Republic is opening up its platform to advertisers.⁠ ⁠ But we’re not doing it the usual way.⁠ ⁠ We’re inviting a small number of visionary African brands (companies and organizations building for the future, shaping culture, and sparking conversation) to advertise with us in a way that reflects our values: bold thinking, clean design, and editorial integrity.⁠ ⁠ As part of this pilot, we’ll be selecting just three standout brands to receive a full month of premium visibility—across our website, newsletter, and social media channels—for ₦200,000 (a special flat rate compared to our standard ₦2 million).⁠ ⁠ If selected, your ad will be vetted and supported by our editorial team to ensure it aligns with The Republic’s visual and storytelling standards. This is a rare chance to reach our highly engaged, globally minded African audience—on terms that elevate your brand.⁠ ⁠ For more details and to apply, visit the link in our bio or IG story. ⁠ ⁠ Deadline: 12 July 2025.⁠ ⁠ We can’t wait to see what you’re building.
Today in 1922, Joseph Ki-Zerbo was born. #RPUBLCHi Today in 1922, Joseph Ki-Zerbo was born. #RPUBLCHistory⏳️⁠ ⁠ On 21 June 1922, Joseph Ki-Zerbo was born in Toma, Upper-Volta (now Burkina Faso). As a historian, politician and writer, Ki-Zerbo is recognized as one of Africa's foremost thinkers.⁠ ⁠ Read more about Burkinabé politics by clicking the image in the link in bio⁠ ____________⁠ 📝: Ibukun Olokode x Ugonna Eronini⁠ 📷: 1)Joseph Ki-Zerbo / Wikimedia Commons.⁠ 2)Joseph Ki-Zerbo / Wiki.⁠ 3)Thomas Sankara at the UN headquarters, New York, 1984. Milton Grant/UN Photo.
Nok and Africa’s Disregard for Prehistory #OnSi Nok and Africa’s Disregard for Prehistory #OnSite⚡⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠Who stole our past, and why did we let them?⁠ ⁠ Nok art, 2,500 years old, locked in glass boxes in Paris. A German university training archaeologists on Nigeria’s Nok Valley, with none of them African. An ancient Ethiopian feminist philosophy rediscovered in Norway, while Addis Ababa looked the other way.⁠ ⁠ In today’s essay, Odafin Odafe Okoh confronts the question at the heart of Africa’s heritage crisis: Why do African leaders continue to treat precolonial history as dispensable? And what happens to a society that allows the world to define its past?⁠ ⁠ It’s a timely, cultural report about imperial theft but more hauntingly, it is about African amnesia, state-sanctioned silence and the quiet burial of our most powerful intellectual legacies.⁠ ⁠ Read the full essay by clicking this image in the link in bio or our IG story.⁠ ⁠ ___________⁠ ⁠ 📝: Odafin Odafe Okoh⁠ 📸: Photo illustration by Ezinne Osueke (@ezinne.o.osueke) / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref: WIKIMEDIA. Nok Art / African Art Gallery.⁠ 🔍: Ada Nnadi (@horneddaughter), Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors.
Today in 1920, Amos Tutuola was born. #RPUBLCHisto Today in 1920, Amos Tutuola was born. #RPUBLCHistory⏳️⁠ ⁠ On 20 June 1920, Amos Tutuola was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He was a Nigerian novelist whose works featured rich Yoruba folklore written in nonstandard English. Many of his books featured stories he had heard as a child.⁠ ⁠ Swipe to learn more and read more about Amos Tutuola by clicking the image at the link in our bio.⁠ ____________⁠ 📝: Ibukun Olokode and Ugonna Eronini⁠ 📷: 1) Amos Tutuola. Francoise Huguier/Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center/The University of Texas at Austin. ⁠ 2) Amos Tutuola. Wikimedia Commons.⁠
Press Freedom is at Risk in the Democratic Republi Press Freedom is at Risk in the Democratic Republic of Congo. #RPUBLCNews📡⁠ ⁠ The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has banned the country’s media from reporting on the activities of former president, Joseph Kabila, and his party, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), claiming that they pose a threat to ‘national cohesion’. This comes after Kabila visited the eastern city of Goma, which is controlled by the M23 rebels currently fighting the DRC army. ⁠ ⁠ The ban raises concerns about press freedom in the DRC, coming only two years after the country passed a new press law potentially restricting press freedom and providing several opportunities for journalism to be criminalized. In 2024, the Journalist in Danger, a DRC-based organization, reported that there had been ‘at least 523 cases of various attacks against the press’ in the last five years.⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ 📝: Ijapa O (@ijapa_o)⁠ 🔍: Ezinne Osueke (@ezinne.o.osueke), Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Adetola Wahab; Editors.
What Is the Place of Nollywood in the World? #OnS What Is the Place of Nollywood in the World? #OnSite⚡⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Despite being the world’s second-largest film industry by volume, Nollywood remains startlingly absent from the global spaces where culture is consumed. On a train from Paris to Lille for Series Mania—the largest TV festival in Europe—Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi browses the in-train film catalogue: French, Italian, Indian, American. Nollywood? Not there. Even on the flight over, Nigerian films were buried under ‘World’ then ‘African.’⁠ ⁠ Nollywood has topped Netflix global charts (Aníkúlápó, Shanty Town), attracted streaming giants like Amazon and Netflix, and sent delegations to Europe’s most prestigious festivals. Yet, the industry remains on the margins: overlooked by the Oscars, sidelined by global distributors and perpetually asked to prove its worth.⁠ ⁠ Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi’s essay draws from the Series Mania Forum (where ten Nollywood filmmakers joined Africa’s cultural elite) to ask urgent questions: Why does Hollywood exist in Nigeria but not vice versa? Is the industry being undermined by its obsession with volume over quality? What happens if streamers pull out completely? And why hasn’t Nollywood, despite decades of output, been invited to sit at the table of global cinematic power?⁠ ⁠ With commentary from Kunle Afolayan, Mimidoo Bartel and Blessing Uzzi, this essay is a sharp reflection on race, gatekeeping, cultural capital and the complex politics of distribution.⁠ ⁠ Read the full essay by clicking this image in the link in bio or our IG story.⁠ ⁠ 📌 Check the pinned comment for our question of the day. ___________⁠ ⁠ ⁠ 📝: Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi (@ahmad_adedimeji)⁠ 📸: Photo illustration by Ezinne Osueke (@ezinne.o.osueke) / THE REPUBLIC. Source Ref: UNSPLASH. Nollywood sign / RIPPLES NIGERIA. ⁠ 🔍: Ijapa O (@ijapa_o), Peace Yetunde Onafuye (@yetundeandbooks), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors.
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