Fifty years after British colonialism, ten years after military rule, Nigerians are free. Not economically free, not yet, and we see the effect of that lack of economic freedom in the kinds of crimes that are committed. But they are free in important ways. You can live where you want, associate with whom you want. You can sue people in court, gather to practice your religion, under the leadership of whichever holy man or charlatan you prefer, and you can marry and divorce as you please. This is a major thing. This is modernity, and to tell these stories, to give the protagonists of these losses even that little bit of attention, is to honor the fact that they are there, that their life goes on.
On his
twitter feed, novelist Teju Cole has been taking the French literary tradition of
faits divers and adapting it to
"bring news of a Nigerian modernity."
posted by villanelles at dawn
on Aug 12, 2011 -
11 comments
Current TV
previously & previously, the media company founded by Al Gore after the 2000 election, has picked up the kinds of in depth long form journalism being rapidly dropped by major networks, but has been tantalizingly unavailable for those without cable; until now. They have been putting their Vanguard episodes up on their website and on YouTube.
[more inside]
posted by Blasdelb
on Apr 30, 2011 -
24 comments
Nigeria's film industry produces 50 films a week. "
Nigerian films are as popular abroad as they are at home. Ivorian rebels in the bush stop fighting when a shipment of DVDs arrives from Lagos. Zambian mothers say their children talk with accents learnt from Nigerian television. When the president of Sierra Leone asked Genevieve Nnaji, a Lagosian screen goddess, to join him on the campaign trail he attracted record crowds at rallies. Millions of Africans watch Nigerian films every day, many more than see American fare. And yet Africans have mixed feelings about Nollywood."
posted by artof.mulata
on Dec 29, 2010 -
10 comments
Nomadic Milk. Dutch artist Esther Polak uses GPS, white sand, and a robot to explore traditional versus industrial milk economies in Nigeria.
posted by shakespeherian
on Jul 12, 2010 -
5 comments
More than 15 years again Robert Kaplan wrote in his
occasionally prescient essay, "Though Islam is spreading in West Africa, it is being hobbled by syncretization with animism: this makes new converts less apt to become anti-Western extremists...." Glossing over the omission that Islam has been in West Africa for
centuries, the recent exploding underpants incident has cemented the idea that a form of violent
religious extremism has found root in West Africa, leaving many to wonder
why and
how. Some argue it's the inevitable result of
dangerous demographics.
posted by Panjandrum
on Jan 20, 2010 -
17 comments
Fela: Music is the Weapon is a documentary film from 1982 featuring a wealth of live concert footage (from his club in Lagos, "The Shrine") as well as interviews with the legendary Nigerian singer, bandleader and social critic. Here's
part 1,
2,
3,
4,
5 and
6.
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Nov 5, 2008 -
22 comments
According to Ilechukwu, an epidemic of penis theft swept Nigeria between 1975 and 1977. Then there seemed to be a lull until 1990, when the stealing resurged. “Men could be seen in the streets of Lagos holding on to their genitalia either openly or discreetly with their hand in their pockets,” Ilechukwu wrote. “Women were also seen holding on to their breasts directly or discreetly, by crossing the hands across the chest. . . . Vigilance and anticipatory aggression were thought to be good prophylaxes. This led to further breakdown of law and order.” In a typical incident, someone would suddenly yell: Thief! My genitals are gone! Then a culprit would be identified, apprehended, and, often, killed.
posted by chunking express
on Jul 8, 2008 -
71 comments
From the Bookstalls of a Nigerian Market.
Onitsha Market Literature consists of stories, plays, advice and moral discourses published primarily in the 1960s by local presses in the lively market town of Onitsha [
in then-newly-independent Nigeria]...
In the fresh and vigorous genre of Onitsha Market Literature, the commoner wrote pulp fiction and didactic handbooks for those who perused the bookstalls of Onitsha Market, one of Africa’s largest trading centers. Examples:
How To Write And Reply Letters For Marriage, Engagement Letters, Love Letters And How To Know A Girl To Marry,
Learn To Speak 360 Interesting Proverbs And Know Your True Brother,
Struggle For Money [All full-text links are in pdf format, and some are quite large]. With links to
additional resources.
posted by amyms
on Jun 4, 2008 -
25 comments
"The really disturbing thing about Lagos’s pickers and venders is that their lives have essentially nothing to do with ours. They scavenge an existence beyond the margins of macroeconomics. They are, in the harsh terms of globalization, superfluous."
The Megacity, George Packer in Lagos.
posted by afu
on Dec 11, 2007 -
25 comments
Dambe is a form of boxing associated with the
Hausa people of the Saharan regions of West Africa.
It is essentially a striking art. The primary weapon is the
strong-side fist. Known as the spear, it is wrapped in a piece of cloth covered by tightly knotted cord. The lead hand, called the shield, is held with the open palm facing toward the opponent. The lead hand can be used to grab or hold as required. Officials generally discourage the use of magical protection on the grounds of fairness.
posted by hob
on Nov 6, 2007 -
7 comments
Nigerians have always had musical opinions about lots of topics. From
premature pregnancy, to
women who cannot conceive,
political criminals or the old topic of
heartbreak.
And that's just the old stuff. The new Nigerian music is about
the Nigerian perspective on 419,
sexing your professor for better grades,
staying faithful to your wife, how a big
schlong can get you girls, how
getting your car hit by a politician is the best that can happen to a poor man,
big booties,
success as a musician,
being in love and the everywhere played
African Queen. There is also the embarrassing stuff, like when the most popular actress decides she also wants to
sing. And let's
not forget Idols West Africa.
posted by markesh
on Jul 4, 2007 -
9 comments
David Oluwale arrived in Britain in 1949, one of many African immigrants. By the close of 1969,
he was dead. Two years later, two police officers were charged with his murder, although they got away almost scot-free despite a massive amount of evidence against them. Although it caused a national scandal at the time, more because of police malpractice than racism, Oluwale's sad story has been forgotten since (apart from a play, written by
Jeremy Sandford, a few years later). However, it deserves to be remembered not just because of a tragic and unnecessary death, but because it was
the first recorded death of a British black person as a result of police racism. A new book,
Nationality: Wog, The Hounding of David Oluwale is helping bring Oluwale's plight back into public consciousness.
Via the BBC's Thinking Allowed.
posted by humblepigeon
on Jun 6, 2007 -
8 comments
On May 22, 1969, the Babies of Biafra launched their first attack against Nigeria. The Babies were a fleet of 5 civilian single-engine SAAB
aircraft outfitted with unguided rocket launchers. They were going up against an air force composed of MIGs and Ilyushin bombers, flown by English, South African and Egyptian mercenaries. Their leader was
Carl Gustaf von Rosen, a Swede who was Herman Goering’s nephew-in-law. (More inside)
posted by forrest
on May 22, 2007 -
17 comments
Mary Uduru of Nigeria. Although we see lots of single-image representations of African poverty (usually in the form of a swollen-bellied child on the brink of starvation) it's rare to find a photo-essay like this one one, which brings us an intimate, informative and non-sensationalist view of the life of the working poor there.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Apr 11, 2007 -
22 comments
Let me make you an offer you can refuse... The Nigerian Football Association has adopted the "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" policy regarding bribery of officials. They now say that officials can accept bribes, so long as said bribes don't affect the game's outcome.
Brilliant. Why didn't anyone think of this before?
posted by TheFarSeid
on Apr 3, 2006 -
21 comments
Teju Cole is a Nigerian who is returning home after years in the US. His writing is some of the best online prose I have ever read. Good photographs too.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen
on Jan 8, 2006 -
12 comments
Blood Flows With Oil in Poor Nigerian Villages An insightful NYT article on "the desperate struggle of impoverished communities to reap crumbs from the lavish banquet the oil boom has laid in this oil-rich yet grindingly poor corner of the globe"
Ok, so the quotes a little heavy handed but the pic on the 2nd page speaks volumes.
posted by Mr Bluesky
on Jan 1, 2006 -
24 comments
10 years. Though I already went on and on about this on another thread, I can't shake it: Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged ten years ago. All he did was point out that Shell so scarred, pitted and slimed his tribal Ogoni lands that it was spontaneously catching fire. Oil company cronies showed up with guns, cleared villages. And then Nigerian government officials got
pissed, and nine Ogoni were hanged.
Wiki. Testimony of his
brother. His
foundation.
posted by toma
on Nov 14, 2005 -
14 comments
Hollywood? Old. Bollywood? That's soooo 2003. Make room for
Nollywood, Nigeria's own film industry which is growing by leaps and bounds every year, and is currently worth about
$45 million dollars. About 400 Nollywood films are produced every year many on a budget of around $15000 and are distributed almost entirely by VHS and VCD. The stories are very much
simplistic and pulpy (check out 419 Stalk Exchange. Yes, 419 as in the email scam) but are much
preferred by local residents and emigre's than the usual arthouse fair one often thinks of when talking about African cinema. Now if you'll excuse me there's a bucket of popcorn and a copy of
GSM Connection waiting for me in the living room.
posted by PenDevil
on Jan 19, 2004 -
13 comments
Scamming the scammer Somewhere along the line I think we've all wondered what would happen if we answered the Nigerian 419 scam email. Now we don't have to. Someone calling himself 'ebola monkey man' has been taking the scammer's on a email journey to the point that he will only agree to send them money if they send him a silly picture of themselves holding up a sign with their name on... [via
b3ta]
posted by feelinglistless
on Jul 4, 2003 -
11 comments
