Phyno: Of Igbo Cultural expression and A Rap Phenomenon

(By Danny Nsa) - Somewhere in the early 2010s, a young man from Anambra walked into Nigerian hip-hop and started rapping in Igbo, and instead of people changing the channel, they leaned in. That alone should tell you everything about what Phyno pulled off. 

    Nigerian music has always had a quiet, unspoken hierarchy of languages. Yoruba had Fuji, Afrobeats, the streets of Lagos amplifying it into a national sound. Pidgin was everybody's middle ground, the great equaliser. But Igbo in rap felt like showing up to a house party speaking Latin. Phyno looked at that bias, shrugged, and proceeded to make some of the most street certified, culturally resonant music Nigeria had ever heard in a language half his audience did not fully understand. And they loved every second of it. 

    His secret weapon was always the delivery. Phyno did not rap Igbo like he was trying to prove something, he rapped it like he was sitting across from you in a beer parlour in Onitsha, telling you the most important story of your life. The cadence was loose but intentional, the flow switching between bars and speech like a man who understood that hip-hop, at its core, is just elevated conversation. Songs like Ghost Mode, Alobam, Parcel were not just records, they were cultural documents. You did not need a translator to feel them. 

    Then there is the Olamide chapter, and honestly, this brotherhood deserves its own documentary.

Trevor Noah: The Audacity of Placing Africa's Brand of Humor on World Stage

(By Danny Nsa) - Nobody hands you the world. You either take it or you wait for an invitation that never comes. Trevor Noah took it, passport, accent, audacity and all. 

    Born in apartheid South Africa to a Black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father, Trevor Noah's very existence was a criminal act. Section 16 of the Immorality Act made interracial relationships illegal, which means he did not just come into this world, he came into it as evidence. His mother Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah raised him anyway, hiding him in plain sight, sprinting through streets with him when police showed up, teaching him that survival and defiance are sometimes the same thing. He wrote about all of this in Born a Crime, and if you read that book and did not put it down at least once just to breathe, you were not paying attention. That memoir does not feel like a celebrity telling you how hard life was before the money came. It reads like testimony. Like somebody survived something and needed the world to know. 

    What makes Trevor's story hit different is that South Africa did not give him a soft landing either. He grew up coloured, the apartheid government's bureaucratic word for mixed race, which meant he was too white for the Black kids and too Black for the white kids. Belonging nowhere is either a prison or a superpower, depending on what you do with the loneliness. Trevor turned it into language.

Nollywood Favorites: Pete Edochie and/or Kanayo O. Kanayo

(By Danny Nsa) - Nigeria gave the world two men who could make you kneel with a glance. They didn't need any special effects or dramatic soundtrack. What they had was just a look, a pause, and the kind of screen presence that makes you forget you're watching fiction. Pete Edochie and Kanayo O. Kanayo didn't just act in Nollywood I'll say they became its moral architecture. One played the father the village feared and respected. The other played the uncle you crossed the street to avoid. Both were necessary. But the question that has quietly divided film lovers for three decades still sits on the table like an untouched meal at a tense family gathering: who actually carries more depth? 

    Pete Edochie arrived in the Nigerian consciousness through Things Fall Apart, and that alone could have been his entire legacy. Playing Okonkwo, arguably the most complex character in African literature, is not a role you audition for. It is a role that auditions you. Edochie passed. He didn't just play a man of pride and contradiction; he played the tragedy of a culture eating itself. His Okonkwo was terrifying because he believed in everything he was destroying. That tension, between love and rigidity, between strength and fear, lived in Edochie's body like muscle memory. When he spoke, his voice arrived before his words did. He didn't raise it. He didn't need to. 

    Kanayo O. Kanayo built something entirely different, and the culture never fully gave him credit for how deliberate it was.

Nollywood's Favorites: Rita Dominic and/or Bimbo Ademoye

(By Danny Nsa) - Every generation of Nigerian cinema gets the actress it deserves. The 90s got Liz Benson, a woman who could cry, scream, and completely unravel on screen and somehow make you feel guilty for watching. The 2000s gave us Genevieve Nnaji, cool and untouchable, the kind of beauty that made filmmakers forget they needed a script. Then came Rita Dominic, precise, deliberate, controlled. Rita never performed. She simply inhabited. 

    So when people started whispering Bimbo Ademoye's name in the same breath as Rita Dominic, I did what any reasonable person would do. I sat down, rewatched a few things, and refused to agree too quickly. 

    Here is what I found. 😊 

    Bimbo Ademoye arrived in Nollywood the way most things that matter arrive, quietly, then all at once. She was not the loudest name in the room. She did not come with a record breaking premiere or a publicist who needed their own publicist. She came with the 2017 comedy drama film "Backup Wife", played a role that could have been decorative, and turned it into something you could not stop thinking about. That was the moment people started paying attention. Not because she was beautiful, Lagos is full of beautiful women, but because she understood something most actresses her age were still figuring out. Stillness is power. 

Of Nollywood On-Screen Chemistry: Jim Iyke and Kate Henshaw

(By Kelvin Childs Okoroji) - Jim Iyke said in an interview with BBC that Kate Henshaw is the best

actress he has ever worked with. I honestly thought he would mention Rita Dominic because they have the most movies together but immediately, my mind went straight to Jim and Kate most iconic film together, Show Me Heaven. 

     Kate and Jim Iyke have starred in several movies side by side, but Show Me Heaven remains unmatched. It’s one of those Nollywood classics that still hits every time you watch it. 

     Written and directed by Tchidi Chikere, the story follows Prisca (Kate Henshaw), a young, decent, and devoted Christian woman in desperate need of money for a charity project. Her prayers seem answered when Chief Dominic, played by Olu Jacobs, offers to fund her cause but with one condition. She must help reform his wayward son, Ude (Jim Iyke), who has abandoned his studies and lost direction in life. 

     At first, Prisca is hesitant, but she eventually agrees. She steps into Ude’s life and slowly begins to transform him into a more responsible man. But then the unexpected happens the very thing neither Prisca nor Chief Dominic planned for. Ude falls deeply in love with her. 

Nigerian Youth, Prosperity Gospel, and Sundry Quests for Magical Wealth

(By Abimbola Adelakun) – Nigerian youths after prosperity gospel  

Some years ago, while Nigeria had abundant money from oil revenue, the prosperity gospel and motivational speaking also reigned. The prosperity gospel is a theology that promises divine blessings of material wealth and good health to the one who sows seeds of financial contribution to the church, a sacrifice that must be worthwhile enough to move divine transcendent power on one’s behalf. Motivational speaking was a similar message, except that the transformation it promised was connected to more secular tactics. 

        In that era, charismatic preachers made good. Their lavish lifestyle made their message self-affirming. A lot has since changed. The validity of the prosperity gospel has been contested in various ways; prosperity preachers and motivational speakers are now treated with the same derision. We have seen instances of people demanding a return of their seeds from pastors when they did not get the expected miracle and in one instance, someone even reported their pastor to the law enforcement agents. Even before Daddy Freeze (Ifedayo Olarinde) began to publicly spar with renowned pastors on the issues of tithe as a route to prosperity, the public had begun to raise questions. Even worse, social media platforms commissioned an army of sceptics who have become the nemesis of the media-savvy pastors.

Pentecostal Prosperity in Nigeria: Who Prospers?

(By Ife Otegbeye) – Who prospers from prosperity gospel in Nigeria?  

On a cool Friday evening, thousands of worshippers congregate for a monthly vigil at a popular Pentecostal church along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Tonight’s theme? Unlocking Your Divine Destiny. 

        The congregation sing and dance for a few hours, and, finally, a few minutes before midnight (the “hour of prayer”), the pastor, dressed in a flamboyant suit and crocodile-skin shoes, mounts the stage. He reads Luke 6:38, “Give and it shall be given unto you.” 

        At the same time, ushers distribute envelopes among the congregation. They, along with the satellite viewers, are reminded that they can also pay via POS terminal or bank transfer. The pastor proceeds to explain to the congregation that giving to God is the first step towards unlocking one’s divine destiny. The message is simple: once you give, God will attend to all your needs. The vigil concludes with miracles, deliverances, and prayers against demonic attacks and the curse of poverty. 

        This is the prosperity gospel. 

        Strongly affiliated with Pentecostalism, it is a form of Christian teaching that emphasises God’s will for the prosperity of all believers, to be attained through faith, devotion, tithing, and positive confessions.

Nollywood Horror Movies and Pentecostalism

(By Kingsley Charles) -

How Pentecostal Preachers and Satanic Panic Helped Launch Nollywood 

Nigeria’s homegrown film industry has always loved horror. Its early occult films sprang from a surge of new Christian movements in the country 

    Down on his luck, Andy Okeke, a middle-class Nigerian trader, is desperate to make money and improve his impoverished circumstances. When a bogus investment goes awry, Andy slips into near-depression. Merit, his wife and the breadwinner of the family, remains an infinite source of encouragement. Walking down the road one humid afternoon, Andy stumbles into Paulo, his friend from high school, who pulls up in a yellow Mercedes-Benz. Andy’s frumpy suit contrasts sharply with Paulo’s flowing white agbada, the traditional robe of the Yoruba people. As the old-time pals exchange pleasantries, they drive in Paulo’s pricy car to a posh restaurant, where Andy bares his soul to his friend. Listening to Andy’s miserable tale, Paulo reassures him, “I’ll show you how to make money and how to spend it, but you must promise me that you will be strong-hearted.” 

    Andy does not grasp the full import of Paulo’s statement until he is brought, weeks later, before a satanic cult whose members sacrifice their loved ones in exchange for fortune. Once initiated, Andy is commanded to sacrifice his gracious spouse for “inexhaustible wealth.” After a foiled attempt to use a commercial sex worker as a decoy, Andy grudgingly submits his wife, whose blood is drawn with a large syringe into a calabash gourd and shared among cult members, including Andy. Finally rich, Andy becomes a major importer and exporter, dealing in designer belts and suits. But his newfound fortune sets off a sequence of disturbing events — occasioned by Merit’s apparition — that lead to Andy’s eventual insanity.

Of Delta-Igbo and Complex Identity Configurations

(By Moses Ochonu) – Of all the identity configurations and complexities in Nigeria, I find the Delta cluster to be the most fascinating and most complex. 

    In Delta, you have ethnicities that have a multiplicity of influences--Benin, Yoruba (Lukumi), Igala, and Igbo. 

     The Itsekiri's affinity with Yoruba is clear. The Urhobo's cultural proximity to Benin is equally conspicuous. And there are several communities who have gradations of connection to their Igbo neighbors across the Niger. 

    To add to the complication, some ethnicities who have been influences by multiple political and linguistic currents insist on and emphasize one of these influences over the others, even though their names may point in a different direction. 

    You might see a Delta person with the name Chukwuma Anielo, but he'll fight you for calling him Igbo. He'll educate you on his and his community's Benin origins even though his language, though an amalgam of different languages, has a dominant Igbo or Igboid inflection. 

Ned Nwoko, Anioma State, and Politics of Igboness

(Nwankwo T. Nwaezeigwe) - I AM MORE IGBO THAN NED NWOKO—ANIOMA-SOUTHEAST CONTRAPTION A POLITCAL SCAM DEAD ON ARRIVAL 

        Although several prominent Anioma interest-groups and personalities have defined their opposing positions against Senator Ned Abdullahi Munir Nwoko’s solo, wretched and narcissistic Anioma State creation mission, I have waited for the ultimate opinion of our revered traditional rulers, which consequently was delivered recently. 

         What most people don’t know is that unlike Southeast States, among Anioma people the opinion of the traditional rulers which often originate from the people through their ancestral heirlooms stand above the opinions of our mostly fraudulent political leaders. In other words, Anioma traditional rulers through their customary network of consultations with the people hold the ace in such matter as the creation of Anioma State. Senator Nwoko did not consider our traditional rulers noteworthy in this regard. 

        However, the cautious yet pungent position of our revered traditional rulers in their recent meeting over Senator Nwoko’s solo vainglorious political promenade clearly spoke the minds of Anioma people without the least equivocation. In part of their five-point communiqué signed jointly by the Chairman, His Majesty Obi of Owa Kingdom, Dr. Emmanuel Efeizomor 11, and Vice Chairman, Obi of Ubulu-Unor, His Majesty Dr. Henry Kikachukwu 1, the revered Royal Fathers subtly hit Senator Nwoko, who incidentally was present in the meeting as uninvited observer, below the belt in the following words: 

“We should stop washing our dirty linings in public. Senator Ned Nwoko, who is representing Delta North in the National Assembly and other elected representatives of the people, political class and other critical stakeholders should work together and engage the people to know what they want, rather than embark on what is perceived as personal aggrandizement.” 

Rethinking Unoka in Things Fall Apart

(By James Eze) - Is Unoka the Unsung Hero of Things Fall Apart? James Eze 

        “No artist of any art has his complete meaning alone,” argues T.S Eliot in his epic essay, “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” 

        Nothing in literature reminds me of Eliot’s declaration with as much vivid clarity as the complexity woven into the character of Unoka in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart.” Unoka is so intricately constructed that he leaves the unwary reader wondering if Achebe had the complete meaning of this character alone. 

        Achebe tells us that Unoka is lazy, imprudent and incapable of thinking about tomorrow. He is a spendthrift, a debtor, a failure, and a loafer who can barely feed his family or pay his debt. Perhaps, worst of all, he is a coward who cannot stand the sight of blood. He is a lover of “the good fare” who, even as a boy, often wandered around looking for a kite sailing leisurely against the blue sky, which was regarded in Umuofia as a precursor for the return of the dry season with its heady festivities and merrymaking. 

        Had Achebe left things that way, everything would have been just perfect. He didn’t. In a way that only a genius could contrive, Achebe redeems this effeminate character with the story of the clever rescheduling of his pile of debt to Okoye, a fellow artist. Lending nuance to this otherwise simple character, Achebe made Unoka remind Okoye, with all the histrionics to boot, that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them. Gently, the reader is offered a rare insight into the labyrinth of Unoka’s mind… a character whose depth is concealed by the veil of laziness and his love of the good fare. 

Guarding Against the Delusion and Illusions of Superstition

(By Dave Okorafor) - In my private chart of 34 criteria to consider before choosing a spouse, degree of superstitiousness is a premium point. Why is that so? 

    I was once in a relationship in which literally every conversation centred around spiritual dangers, ancestral curses, and evil machination and manipulation of lives and destinies. It was exhausting, believe me! 

    I knew myself; none of that was my thing. I wasn't going to be ready to combine spiritual warfare with the exhausting economic struggle in Nigeria. For how long would a man do that? 

    Show me the human with his w3apon before my physical eyes and let me f.i.ght or flee, but to pitch me against the wind to conquer, I'd rather be a coward. 

     In my family, we don't have demons troubling us. Our ancestors didn't curse us. Nobody plotted to steal our destinies. If we're not rich or advanced in education, we know the reasons. 

    So, I persuade you to never deliberately immerse yourself in the ocean of obsession with unseen things. It's like fighting the wind. You're not sure what you're dealing with, and you can hardly win. 

    I dissuade you from getting entangled with people who are always worried about di.a.bolical manipulations;

On Jagun Jagun: A Historian's Take

(By Bukola Adeyemi Oyeniyi) - On Jagunjagun: No Comment 

    Yesterday, a friend asked for my views on the new movie in Yoruba language, Jagunjagun, and I did not hesitate to state that it was loud on costume and artistic expressions, most especially alliteration, and low in historical value. 

     I am a historian and movies purpotedly Yoruba movies, are of interest to me. I look for how they mirror reality or exaggerate it. I look for life lessons and values they espoused, etc. 

     In relation to Jagunjagun, here is the summary of what I shared with my friend. Off the cuff, there were two instances in Yoruba history when bands of terrorists constituted themselves into menace, terrorizing societies in ways reminiscent of what was depicted in Jagunjagun. Both related to the 19th Century Yoruba wars. 

     The first was led by Toyeje of Ogbomoso who allied with Afonja, the Are Onakakanfo to destroy Old-Oyo. Toyeje and Afonja and their terrorist groups orchestrated the destruction of over 3000 Yoruba villages and towns, leading to refugee flows towards the dense forest areas on Yorubaland. The relics of these villages and towns are still standing today at the Old Oyo National Park. 

     The second was a band of rough boys that constituted themselves at Eba-Odan, now Ibadan. They knew no other job than stealing, pillaging, and terrorizing people. 

     In both, what could be effectively called terrorist groups band themselves together for their parochial interests. Toyeje's group was a terrorist group and the alliance between Afonja and them resulted in the destruction of Old-Oyo and the ultimate Fulani take-over of Ilorin. 

    The Ibadan ruffians later became warriors and stopped Fulani advance at Ikirun, thereby saving the remaining part of Yorubaland from Fulani take-over. 

    None of the two instances in Yoruba history compare in reckless and senseless killings with what we see on display in Jagunjagun.

Igbo Writers: Centering Igbo Culture and Language

(By Chika Unigwe) – “Why We Centre Igbo Culture And Language In Our Writing” 

    Chika Unigwe is a Nigerian professor and author of Igbo descent. To accompany the launch of Service95 Book Club’s August Book of the Month, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half Of A Yellow Sun, Unigwe explores the importance of Igbo identity – a central pillar of the novel – and explains why Igbo writers past and present celebrate the Igbo language and culture in their work 

Kasimma Okani, the author of the short story collection All Shades Of Iberibe, insists on including her Igbo ethnic identity at the end of her biography. Wherever her prose appears online, there is always a line stating that she is an Igbo writer. For her, and for many of us Igbo writers publishing globally in English, there is an intentionality to centring our Igboness in our narratives. 

     However, it would be impossible to talk about our writing, our use of Igbo words, and our narratives as portals into the Igbo world without referencing the Igbo Nigerian writers Chinua Achebe, AKA the father of African literature, and Flora Nwapa, its matriarch.

Owerri & Bongo Music: A City & Its Distinct Sound

(By Chimezie Chika) – What is Bongo’s True Identity? 

The cultural identity that Bongo music wears makes it distinct and, indeed, delightful, but it may also be its greatest albatross in the march to international visibility… 

A City and its Music 

Owerri is the city of enjoyment, the city of sin, of passion and recklessness, the Las Vegas of the Igbo heartland, or at least that is what it seems to be in the general view. In the confines of the city, in its clustered streets and throbbing avenues, in its showiness, there is the determination to take the consummation of life to its most passionate extremities. As you drive or walk through its streets, its clubs, its many hotels, you hear — not surprisingly, for all such cities possess an inner music — a beat. It may seem rather too brazen at first, if you recognise it, but this is the free character of a city in possession of a heart. Some say its debauchery and the tendency to take life less seriously; others say it’s Bongo. 

    Bongo is not a person, though, as you will find out. It is not a fashion trend or an invisible man-about-town catching the sensuous imagination of a city. Bongo is, simply put, the music of a people — the kind of music that has become the embodiment of a people’s values — and their own expression of their worldly outlook. “It is our music,” Chigozie Opara, a friend and Owerri native, tells me. “You won’t hear it anywhere else.” Bongo is to Owerri what Calypso is to the Caribbean islands or Jazz to New Orleans.