Stories about Nigeria
Umasoye: A language activist who uses technology to make learning Ekpeye fun
Umasoye is a digital language activist from Nigeria that is using media tools to make the preservation and teaching of the Ekpeye language fun and engaging for younger generations.
Exploring Nigeria’s Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Arts
The Pan-Atlantic University, Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Arts — Nigeria's first university museum — by hosting the ‘Invisible Hands’ exhibition, provided a counter-narrative to the historical erasure of Nigerian women artists.
Nigeria deteriorates into a perilously insecure nation
Armed banditry, Jihadist terrorism, kidnappings, and sports-related violence all impact the safety and livelihoods of citizens across the country.
Nigeria’s Lagos gangs terrorize citizens, extort transport workers, and wreak havoc
Area boys (agbèrò) make life hellish for Lagosians. They tax cab drivers, peddle illicit drugs, collide with politicians as thugs and make life insecure with their numerous gang fights.
The ‘Ikorodu Bois’ demonstrate how digital platforms are amplifying Nigerian movies worldwide
With sparse equipment and digital tools, the ‘Ikorodu Bois’ crew created sensational and hilarious mimicry of Hollywood and Nollywood movies that has become a global social media sensation.
How Nigeria confronts the persistent practice of Female Genital Mutilation: An interview with Dr. Chris Ugwu
FGM causes excruciating pains, infections, excessive bleeding, urinary incontinence, complications in childbirth, trauma, and even death. The highest FGM prevalence rates are found in southwest and southeast Nigeria.
Nigerian highlife music scene gets a makeover by two brother duos
Umu Obiligbo maintained the original Igbo highlife style, while the Cavemen have modernized it. Both groups have transformed highlife with an originality that resonates with young people.
How Flavour and Phyno pioneered the revival of Nigeria's Igbo highlife music
Flavour revolutionized highlife by adapting it for dancing in nightclubs and parties. Phyno successfully fused hip-hop and pop into highlife with such finesse.
Celestine Ukwu: the Nigerian philosopher-musician who left his mark on Igbo highlife
Celestine Ukwu’s soulful songs contemplated and portrayed complicated experiences that were deeply rooted in his Igbo identity.
How Nigeria’s Igbo highlife music provided hope after a devastating civil war
The Oriental Brothers provided hope after the civil war. The 80s witnessed the revival of ‘egwu ekpili’. Later, Bright Chimezie’s impressive ‘legwork’ live performances popularized Igbo highlife through the 90s.
The pioneers of Nigeria's Igbo highlife music
Highlife gained popularity in southwestern cosmopolitan Lagos and was transformed in eastern Nigeria. By incorporating Igbo traditional folklore style, they created the Igbo highlife that now enjoys global appeal.
The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: 1980s to the 2000s
Nightlife disappeared during military dictatorship, with music collectives singing on radio and a cheap imitation of American raps. Currently, individual artists with prodigious talents have revived the music scene.
The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: from colonial times to the 1970s
Lagos, Nigeria’s cultural capital has always been a cosmopolitan city. A place where music and culture are in constant collision.
Meet the new generation of Kenyan women sparking a vinyl resurgence in Africa
Since music listeners have pivoted toward digital streaming platforms, Maia is one of the few artists who views vinyl records as more than just a novelty.
Meet the African women athletes making an impact in international basketball leagues
Odada joins a bevy of other African basketball players who are making an impact in the American-based professional league for women.
Africans are changing how they consume music and even taking on international streaming giants
Following global trends, compact disc (CDs) sales on the continent have been on a steady decline as music lovers ditch the discs for digital downloads.
Africa's music scene rebounds after a devastating pandemic
Live performances and music festivals, key revenue sources for African musicians, were annihilated during the COVID-19 pandemic. But things seem to be gradually returning to normal.
Nigerian ministers’ political campaigns stir up legal debate
Nigerian cabinet ministers running for office are caught in a legal web between an electoral law that prescribes immediate resignation and the constitution that says they can wait.
Nigerians demand central banker's resignation for dabbling in partisan politics
"It is difficult to imagine that a person who occupies the sensitive office of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria will be this brazen in actualizing his ambition."
Nigerian politicians, oblivious of striking university teachers, focus on election campaigns
The Nigerian government's insensitivity to striking federal-university teachers reflects a fundamental disinterest in public education. However, the incessant strikes are not influencing the tone-deaf government but only keeping students at home.
World Record Store Day: These Kenyan DJs are keeping the art of vinyl alive in the digital age
Kenya’s vinyl collectors community has reimagined the day they come together to share in the joy of buying, collecting and listening to all manner of Vinyl records.
