Culture & Society
‘Who has time for undecided authors?’ Dominique Otigbah’s First Draft
If she could write about any moment in history, historian and author of ‘Reading Biafra’, Dominique Otigbah, would write a history of stockfish, ‘a quintessential Nigerian ingredient with its origins in Northern Norway.’ Read More...
Deceptions of Innovations Investigating the Claims of Big Tech
The grand premise of innovation is that everyone benefits from it: technology not only yields great opportunity; it constructs great equality. The image of innovation is a redemptive one—but for whom? Read More...
‘Finish the Damned Thing’ Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí’s First Draft
Political theorist and author of ‘Are Nigerians Black Enough to Talk about Race?’, Ẹniọlá Ànúolúwapọ́ Ṣóyẹmí’s writing ‘almost always starts from a place of unreasonable obsessiveness.’ Read More...
‘The Story Comes With Its Own Style’ Sada Malumfashi’s First Draft
Essayist and author of ‘Zata Iya: A History of Hausa Feminist Writings’, Sada Malumfashi, has always wondered ‘how different and more diverse the stories of the first-generation Hausa novels would have been if women also participated in the writing process.’ Read More...
‘The Lesson is in Design’ Merlin Uwalaka’s First Draft
Essayist and author of ‘From Glamour Girls to Nolly Babes: Nollywood Nostalgia and the Modern Nigerian Woman, Merlin Uwalaka, finds it ridiculous that there are Nigerians who are proud to say that they do not watch Nigerian movies. Read More...
Enjoy Your Life Lady Donli and the Birth of a Pan-African Rockstar
At first glance, Lady Donli casts a demure figure, as far as self-proclaimed rockstars go. ‘So before I start my shows, right, I do this pledge,’ she says, staring out the window and into the rain in the opening scene of her music video, Cash. Read More...
‘Editing Feels Like Taking Vitamins.’ Ore Ogunbiyi’s First Draft
Author and speechwriter for the Vice President of Nigeria, Ore Ogunbiyi, thinks everyone should read Emmanuel C. Eze’s Race and the Enlightenment: A Reader before leaving university. Read More...
Between Feminism and Islam My Personal Journey from ‘Muslim Feminist’ to ‘Muslimah’
Anyone who truly puts Islam before misogyny would enthusiastically seek to fight for women’s rights in accordance with Islamic principles, without having to identify as a ‘Feminist’. Read More...
‘Writer, Write.’ Moyosore Orimoloye's First Draft
For Moyosore Orimoloye, poet and author of Poet in the Time of Buhari, poetry does more than ‘wrap the mundane in arcane language’; sometimes, poetry gives us ‘“simple” words by which to articulate what we think is a complex experience.’ Read More...
Introducing ‘First Draft’: Our New Column Authors and Prominent Figures on Books, Reading and Writing
Introducing First Draft: a new weekly column about reading, books and writing inspired by questions our editors have had during the course of working with authors. Read More...
