After weeks of fasting, prayer and reflection, Muslims will close out Ramadan with Eid-ul-Fitr; the Muslim “Festival of Breaking the Fast”. The first of two key Muslim festivals, Eid-ul-Fitr celebrates the end of a successful period of fasting, prayer and reflection as well as the renewal of one’s…
Human disrespect and lack of value for life in Nigeria became glaring evident in Chibok, when a militant group broke into a school in the Northern Nigerian town and made away with 279 Chibok girls (or more) in 2014. When the news broke there were a huge…
By ECHEZONAM SMITH I listened to Wyclef’s song Diallo as a teenager and thought it was a cool song. I loved the way Wyclef screamed “Diallo Diallo!” and the gunshots sounded so real. However, in all my sing-along moments and until I became cognizant of Black Lives Matter,…
In 2009, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie treated fans to a reading of her short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck which had just been released at the time. The lecture event organised by the D.C. Young African Professionals Network and the Center for Global Development was more…
Travel. Exhilarating, eye-opening, enriching. But sometimes it can be downright annoying – especially where travel in Africa is concerned. Over the past two years I’ve taken numerous trips across the continent I call home; the majority for work, some on my own dime, each unique in its own…
For most people in Ghana who want to buy items abroad and have them delivered, the modus operandi is to call a friend, relative, or acquaintance abroad who may be coming to the country soon and ask them to get it for you. Then, you wait until they…
I do not know if I am terribly in a need of some writer courage – or any other kind – and because we sometimes underestimate how powerful a single thank you can be, my tongue feels burdened and has chosen my hands to speak. Therefore, with simmering…
If African Twitter was a bar, then the year 2015 would have been one of those memorable nights out. The bar’s speciality would be a cocktail of hashtags and the noisy drinkers would be eating jollof while debating xenophobia, everyday sexism and everything else in between. Under the…
A Rwandan friend recently sent me a 9-minute speech via Whatsapp, thinking I might have already heard it. About a week later, I finally listened to it for the first time. I’m glad I did. Attributed to Kenya’s Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba – current Kenya School of…
It is impossible to talk art in Ghana or Africa without mentioning Chale Wote. When the official poster was released, the festival’s much desired and inevitable growth was evident. However, I found myself feeling more scared and anxious, than excited, to see if adding two more days to…