History
The Quiet Politics of Lebanese Nigerians
The Lebanese in Nigeria form one of the country’s most dynamic diaspora communities, with a fascinating history marked by notable commercial success and subtle political influence. Read More...
Looking for Gaskiya Corporation
On a humid afternoon in May 2023, the photographer Eslah Yusuf and I searched for the building that housed Northern Nigeria’s oldest printing press and publishing house. Read More...
Remembering Kampala
For much of the sixties, Kampala was at the centre of literature in Africa, its status propelled by Makerere University and Rajat Neogy’s Transition Magazine. However, in the seventies, the violence of Idi Amin forced intellectuals and artists to flee the Ugandan capital and led to the end of Kampala’s cultural dominance in Africa. Read More...
Haile Selassie I and Pan-African Diplomacy
Perhaps a latecomer to pan-African ideology, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I was nevertheless unique in his contribution to pan-Africanism. He urged all those working for a united global Africa to consider pan-Africanism as not an end unto itself, but an indispensable means toward a broader horizon of a new humanity free from imperialism and exploitation. Read More...
The Niger River and the Dearth of History Deconstructing the Myths of Mungo Park
Challenging the narrative that Mungo Park ‘discovered’ the Niger River brings to the fore the complex legacy of European explorations in Africa. It underscores the urgent need for a shift towards comprehensive history education and cultural engineering to cultivate a well-informed society. Read More...
Locating Ourselves after Colonialism A Postcolonial and Decolonial Discourse for Twenty-First Century Africa
Colonialism shaped, is shaping and, as it appears, will continue to shape the realities of Africa. As a postcolony, Africa is still searching for identity, rediscovering itself and finding creative ways to speak and be heard void of Western-produced knowledge—but, can Africa escape the neocolonial machine? Read More...
A Womanist Reading of African Women in Abrahamic Tradition
Though the presence of Abrahamic tradition within global Black consciousness often finds expression through male-dominated narratives, a closer examination uncovers Black women at the very centres of the most path-altering moments in the tradition, offering analogues with which Black women have interpreted, reimagined and reclaimed their past, present, and future. Read More...
Conflict, Terrorism, and Invented Settler Colonial Victimhood in South Africa Reflections for Solidarity Building towards a Free Palestine
Underlying the logic of war and conflict that proliferates global narratives on the Israeli state’s ongoing onslaught in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, is a subtly communicated victimhood conferred to the settler colonial state. Much like South African racialized victims resisting and 'transitioning’ from a white-minority apartheid state, Palestinians find themselves subjected to a displaced empathy that delegitimizes their victimhood and liberationist efforts through the language of conflict and ‘terrorism’. Read More...
The Republic: Season 1, Episode 6 Transcript The Rest Is History
In this closing episode, we look at the fall out of the annulment and its prolonged implications for Nigeria’s democracy. In this episode, we ask political stakeholders and try to answer why June 12 is a significant date.
Read More...
The Republic: Season 1, Episode 5 Transcript June 12: Hope Deferred
In this week’s episode we cover the 1993 election results and the debate on Babangida’s decision to annul the results. Read More...
