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Ruto

Is President William Ruto Facing a Global Publicity Crisis?

Winnie Rugutt and Fridah Njoki·May 11, 2025
As domestic unrest in Kenya grows, President William Ruto’s carefully crafted global image is unravelling. Internal discontent is eroding Ruto’s international standing, which can potentially damage Kenya’s position as a regional sanctuary. Read More...
April/May 2025Kenya
Nigerian God

The Curious Adventures of the Nigerian God

Esohe Iyare·May 11, 2025
Six years ago, in Becoming Nigerian: A Guide, Elnathan John introduced readers to the Nigerian God. Since then, the Nigerian God has had many interesting adventures, some of which went viral in 2024. This essay recounts four. Read More...
April/May 2025Nigeria
Llona

Outside with the Homeless

Emmanuel Esomnofu·May 11, 2025
The breakout star of 2024, Llona is leaning into the expression of heart in his brand, a soul bearer like Asa or 2Face, but with an aesthetic loyal to his own generation. Read More...
April/May 2025Nigeria
BRICS

Nigeria’s New BRICS Status Won’t Solve Its Economic Crisis—but It Signals a Foreign Policy Shift

Otobong Inieke·May 11, 2025
Nigeria’s decision to join BRICS as a partner signals its desire to be at the forefront of an emerging geopolitical order. However, it must carefully navigate complex internal challenges while weighing both the opportunities and risks of this new alliance. Read More...
April/May 2025Nigeria
Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

‘Writers Have the Obligation of Imagining the Future That Must Be Achieved’ Ani Kayode Somtochukwu’s First Draft

Ani Kayode Somtochukwu·May 11, 2025
Nigerian queer liberation activist and author of And Then He Sang a Lullaby, Ani Kayode Somtochukwu, describes his writing as an expression of love for the African people: ‘I like to think of my writing as an expression of love for the African people, a commitment to our capacity for justice and liberty, an insistence on dreaming our freedom as an inevitable eventuality. I want to be an incendiary bomb. And I know that stories have that power.’ Read More...
April/May 2025First DraftInterviewsNigeria
Books

7 Books That Will Make You Think Twice Before Dating Men

Ijapa O·May 11, 2025
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will make you think twice before dating men. The books on this list will show different ways men can turn on women and hopefully prepare you for a romantic relationship with men. Read More...
April/May 2025Read Something AfricanReading
The Republic Podcast

The Republic Podcast Shortlisted for 2025 One World Media Awards

Adetola Wahab·May 8, 2025
The Republic podcast has officially been named one of three finalists at the 2025 One World Media Awards in the Podcast & Radio category! Read More...
April/May 2025Dispatch
Debt

The Economic Cost of Debt Forgiveness on Nigeria

Chioma Echebiri·May 4, 2025
One of Nigeria’s woes is the soaring level of sovereign debt amidst persistent hardship and underdevelopment, raising questions about whether debt relief mechanisms can serve as a sustainable, effective solution. Read More...
April/May 2025Nigeria
I Watch You Disappear

The Struggle Between Faith and Finality

Ancci·May 4, 2025
Feranmi Ariyo’s I Watch You Disappear articulates illness, grief, hope and faith, blending prosaic narrative with poetic depth to capture the emotional tension of a family grappling with cancer and loss. Read More...
April/May 2025NigeriaReading
Right-wing

Right-Wing Misinformation Is Invading Kenya, Here’s Why We Need to Stop It

Maureen Kasuku·May 4, 2025
Right-wing disinformation tactics have crossed borders into Kenya, fuelling a dangerous intersection of digital misogyny and real-world violence that is driving record numbers of femicide. Read More...
April/May 2025Kenya

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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⏳️⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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June 12 haunts Nigeria not just because of what happened, Aye argues, but because of what didn’t.⁠
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Read more by clicking the image in the link in bio⁠
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📝: 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. ⁠
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📝: 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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📝: 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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