Arts/Culture

Kunle Afolayan’s latest Netflix original property, Swallow is an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Sefi Atta, one of the most influential contemporary Nigerian writers.  Released on the global platform as the big Independence Day release, Afolayan’s visual interpretation futilely gropes for ideas about national identity, economic inequality and the ways that […]

The past decade has witnessed a resurgence of female novelists in Nigeria, particularly in fiction. It comes as no surprise that American and European publishers have published the novels of more Nigerian women than those of their male counterparts. This is a welcome development, no less fantastic. The resurgence is also evident in the current […]

Yabasi is Basket Mouth’s debut album of 10 high-octane tracks that feature a variety of Nigerian artistes who bring their prowess to bear on the project, culminating into a medley. Even though Yabasi is his first full music project, Basket Mouth, an established comedian and actor, is not a stranger to music. He recalls in […]

Ademola: Somewhere, Chinua Achebe says, “there is no story that is not true.” While this is a profound assertion, it also speaks, in my opinion, about the stringency of the fiction-nonfiction rules. As someone whose first book, Satans & Shaitans, was a fictionalized account of a deeply researched feature of the current Nigerian society, what do […]

Colours of Hatred is a riveting narrative,  coordinating language beautifully and weaving a fine web of intricacies through the different characters Obinna Udenwe presents before us. It could be suggested that Obinna had a fine story and employed characters to help him execute the job and sometimes those characters’ place in the story could be […]

Kola Tubosun (KT): The Girl with the Louding voice, a very fascinating book I read over the last couple of days. I am glad to speak with the writer. Abi Dare (AD): Thank you, Kola. It’s such a pleasure to be here with you. I’ve heard great things. KT: I enjoyed the book very much […]

Siwo siwo siwo Siwooooooooooooooo He was Nigeria’s closest instance of the Renaissance Man: musician, sculptor, inventor, sportsman, architect, scholar, mythmaker, lay philosopher, folklorist, and culture ambassador/impresario. A true Jack of many trades who strove so hard to be master of all, he was a man of  many capabilities , with a voice that was admirably […]

Abi Dare’s debut novel, The Girl with the Louding Voice, is one that begins on a high note, engaging the reader immediately. Narrated by a teenage protagonist who is so relatable that her voice to the reader feels like friends gossiping, the novel is set in the protagonist’s village and Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. Even […]

In one of the earliest scenes of Elder’s Corner, the culturally significant, long in the works documentary about Nigeria’s forgotten musical heroes, highlife maestro Sir Victor Uwaifo summarizes the film’s central thesis with the following words.  “It must be the devil’s trick to be born in a country where neither soul nor talent is appreciated,” […]

Readers of Amma Darko’s Beyond the Horizon, Chika Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street, and Ifeanyi Ajaegbo’s Sarah House may find Onyeka Nwelue’s The Strangers of Braamfontein familiar, especially in its discussion of sex trafficking of African women. However, that is where the comparison ends. There is blood in Nwelue’s latest novel—lots of blood. This is […]