Two times last week – in this, the coldest March in 50 years, apparently – I put on an iro and buba. Both times, as I tied the wrapper securely about my waist, it occurred to me that London, England, is no kind of place for an iro and buba. And when I struggled to fit [...]
For the last few months, I have been thinking and vaguely discussing with my sister the idea of ‘something more than an oral history of Nigerians in Britain.” We all know Olaudah Equiano (hold tight, Nigerians in pre-1800 UK – braaap!) but how much do we know about the lives of British Nigerians over the [...]
Yesterday on Facebook, I came across this post on Anglo-Nigerian publisher Jeremy Weate’s page: “In Aba, they make Italian-style shoes from Kano leather which are labelled “Made in Italy”. No one would buy them if they said “Made in Nigeria”, although everyone knows they are made locally. Nigerians don’t trust products made in Nigeria and [...]
In the course of my job, I have been invited to speak on radio programmes, about subjects that I have some knowledge of. I’ll be honest, it’s always thrilling – “Me? Really? YOU REALLY LIKE ME!” – and appeals to the inner social retard Hollywood has convinced me exists deep inside. Anyway, after one such [...]
No doubt you’re a little bit fatigued by the demands I’ve made on your ears and eyes in recent times. Apologies, but there’s more. I was interviewed for The World Today on the BBC World Service (yeah, baby!) last Wednesday following my piece about Nigeria being the happiest place in the world. You can, if [...]
Excuse the giant French horn I’m tooting, but I wrote a thing for The Guardian about Nigeria being the most optimistic place on earth. No, seriously. You can read it here, chums.
I loved The Family. Seriously, check my Twitter feed – I live-blogged the whole thing. The first episode centred around the 60th birthday of dad Sunday and all the things that revolve around such a momentous occasion. In this case, there was the baking and icing of several cakes, preparing for a special church outing [...]
Returning tonight on Channel 4 is the third series of their documentary, The Family. This one follows the adventures of the Adesinas from Hackney (insert postcode whoop here). I’ve only seen a few episodes of previous series (series 1 had a white British family, season 2 a British Asian one), but I really enjoyed what [...]
Wazobia! Welcome, friends. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence – Happy Birthday to us! Accordingly, we will try to celebrate in all possible ways. Right now, I’m playing some Afrobeat in honour of the great man Fela Kuti, re-reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, I’m wearing my green-white-green pants, and I’m awaiting [...]
Hi kids! It’s a veritable Feast of Blackness™ today on Yoruba Girl Dancing. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule (e ku ojo ibi!), as well as the beginning of Black History Month here in the UK. And as if that wasn’t enough, there’s Black Friday and The Friday Pretty – [...]
It got a little neglected by the audience, what with the first of the televised Leaders’ Debates on ITV1 (Boo! Hiss! Whisper it, a little bit boring!), but at 9pm last Thursday night, BBC2 aired the first in a three-part series called Welcome To Lagos. I was alerted to the programmes by blogger Vex In The City, [...]
I was all done for the year, I swear. Then this fool gets all up in my grill, with his seasonal humdinger of a news story. Dammit, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, you just couldn’t be cool! You just had to attempt a terrorist act on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit. You just had to have ‘links [...]
When you were a kid, what was your parents’ greatest fear for you? That maybe you’d get abducted? That the Cold War’s Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine would annihilate us all? That you wouldn’t get good grades at school? That you would either get pregnant, or help someone else along that route? Any of these things ring [...]
Good evening, and e kaabo. Welcome to Black Fridays, tagline: cos the rest of the week ain’t Black enough! There’ve been a number of issues on this week’s Black news agenda. Let me list the ways: Keishagate and the semantics issue of still calling the band ‘Sugababes’ when no originals remain; the Mobo awards being held [...]
A picture tells a thousand words, right? Below are a few snapshots of my Nigerian holiday.
