Book Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams It is 1941. We are in the Yoruba town of Owo, a model colonial town in southwest Nigeria. Can you hear it? The British army’s bugle? It is blowing. Dispirited by academic scores too low for the exalted studies of his dreams, Isaac Fadoyebo is almost 18 when he joins Read More…
Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa, famously known as Ken Saro-Wiwa, would have been 82 today, October 10. My lionised friend packed too many lifetimes into one life. His hanging by the General Sani Abacha regime on November 10, 1995 was a universal cause célèbre. It can be all too easy for many to give Ogoni activism the Read More…
Felabration, an annual cultural extravaganza, has been a fixture since its inception in 1998. Conceived by Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, it’s a vibrant tribute to the renowned Nigerian musician and human rights activist, Fela Kuti, who is celebrated as the trailblazer of Afrobeat music. This celebration, which came to an end on Sunday, has earned its place Read More…
Jamaica mourns the loss of Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper, a founding member of the renowned reggae band Third World, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 71. The music icon had been courageously battling cancer for several years. The year 2023 has brought unimaginable sorrow to the Cooper family. Tragically, Ibo Cooper fell ill Read More…
Madonna, the iconic pop superstar, is set to kick off her highly-anticipated tour, “Madonna: The Celebration Tour,” in London’s O2 Arena this Saturday. This tour, spanning her illustrious 40-year career, was initially slated to begin in Vancouver in July but had to be postponed due to the singer’s hospitalisation for a severe bacterial infection. With Read More…
There is a Chinua Achebe International Airport in Anambra State. It was a spectacular masterstroke from Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo when he renamed the Anambra Airport at Umueri after Chinua Achebe. The ovation that Soludo got when he made the announcement in his speech at the 63rd Nigerian Independence Anniversary, which took place at Dr Read More…
The paraphrase of an interview by Olatoun Gabi-Williams Noo Saro-Wiwa, the daughter of the renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, emerges as a distinctive figure whose life is interwoven with the cultural arras of Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Her narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a remarkable familial legacy, a tale of struggle Read More…
Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams The Woman Next Door is Yewande Omotoso’s comically dark second novel published in 2016 by Random House, South Africa and by Farafina in Nigeria. The story unfolds in what appears to be the first decade of the 21st century against a backdrop of a South Africa in the throes of being Read More…
Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams The Meursault Investigation” is the dark wonderland Kamel Daoud has created as a searing rejoinder to L’Etranger”, probably the most famous of Albert Camus’ novels. If Camus rejected the word “existentialism” to define his novels, Daoud surely does not. Dealing extravagantly in the currency of existentialism, “The Meursault Investigation” must be Read More…
Nigerian music stars Davido, Zlatan, and Falz, along with a multitude of fans, joined a poignant candlelight procession in honour of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, on Thursday evening in Lekki, Lagos. The event also saw the participation of the Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mobolaji Ogunlende. The Read More…
