Nigeria has a history of artistes using creative methods to question power. Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti notoriously lampooned the military government in his music. Still, for many of Nigeria’s satirists, criticising those in power also comes with more indirect difficulties today.
Read MoreThe idea of starting Cassava Republic, a Nigerian publishing firm dedicated to African literature, came to Bakare-Yusuf when she traveled to Nigeria as a visiting academic from the UK. She was shocked by the narrow range of literature in the bookshops and the non-existent libraries in the homes she visited.
Read MoreWith general elections less than a month away, Nigeria held a much-awaited presidential debate on 19 January. Voters around the country tuned in for two hours on Saturday evening to hear what their next president had to say about governing Africa’s most populous nation.
Read MoreThe New York Times’ decision to publish a graphic image of victims of a terrorist attack in Kenya and its subsequent response to the backlash make a case for why Western news outlets need to hire local journalists and editors.
Read MoreNigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, but ascertaining the percentage of those with learning disabilities is next to impossible as official data is nonexistent. As such, educational schemes barely address their needs, pushing them further to the margins of society.
Read MoreNigerian couples are cautiously turning to surrogacy to ease the woe of fertility. But many find the path is beset with problems, from stigma to a fog of legal uncertainty.
Read MoreListed by ELLE Magazine as one of “12 women changing the world”, Minna Salami, a Nigerian-Finnish author, blogger and commentator, discusses the importance of feminist civil society groups and why she’s impatient with the idea of empowering women simply for economic reasons.
Read MoreTen years after Nigeria ratified the UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities, a disability bill continues to ping pong between the legislative and executive arms of government. Frustrated by the lack of progress, disability activists, some of whom are disabled themselves, are calling for their rights to be recognised.
Read MoreLola Shoneyin founded the Aké Festival in 2013 with the aim of promoting, developing and celebrating creativity in Africa. She spoke to Shayera Dark about the fifth edition of the Aké Arts and Book Festival, which took place in Lagos from 25–28 October under the theme ‘Fantastical Futures’.
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