The dream of the early- to mid-2000s is alive in Abuja
There is this fascinating pattern I notice whenever I’m in a bar or cafe in Abuja that plays American music.
If the cafe is playing American music, the theory holds, there is a very likely (though not 100 percent) chance that it is playing hits from the mid-2000s. Somehow, and for some reason, US pop music comes to a halt in Nigeria somewhere around the early 2010s.
Why?
A theory that two Nigerian friends have offered, and that I particularly like, is that that’s right around the time that Afrobeats — Nigeria’s red-hot, homegrown music genre right now — really started taking off, and overtook American music on Nigeria’s pop airwaves.
Is this scientifically proven? No. Is this worth writing a story about? Also probably not. But it’s a fascinating observation to force on newsletter readers as I listen to throwbacks from Rihanna, Adele, Bruno Mars, etc.
Besides, it pairs nicely with the mall I live next to — which, in another throwback, is thriving.
USAID cuts rip through African health care systems
As clouds gather and humidity rises across west Africa, whose annual rains bring an uptick of deadly, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, Musa Adamu Ibrahim, a nurse, is sitting at home, unemployed.
In Nigeria -- home to 30 percent of the world's annual 600,000 malaria deaths -- clinics that once served 300 people a day in the conflict-hit Borno state have abruptly shut down, Ibrahim and other laid-off workers told AFP, following the withdrawal of American funding by President Donald Trump.
The sudden dismantling of USAID -- the country's main foreign development arm -- is unravelling health care systems across Africa that were built from a complicated web of national health ministries, the private sector, nonprofits and foreign aid.
As the effects of the cuts compound, the resulting damage -- and deaths -- are unlikely to end anytime soon: Rattled supply chains mean drugs are at risk of being stuck in warehouses in Mali. Children are walking miles to reach care in South Sudan for cholera care and dying along the way, and refugee camps in Kenya are facing medicine shortages.
The short version is: although the USAID cuts were announced weeks ago, we are likely only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to seeing their effects. One thing I tried to emphasize in this report is how many African experts/health workers were laid off. Yes, USAID is charity, but it was also helping African experts solve African problems. There was no transition — they went from gainfully employed in their local communities to cut off.
(In the case of Democratic Republic of Congo, the US had signed up to be the primary malaria drug and test provider for nine provinces’ public hospitals. Those supply chains are now completely upended, and malaria season is only just beginning.)
Nollywood turns to YouTube
Nollywood, Nigeria's massive film industry, releases an average of 50 movies weekly, the second most prolific film industry in the world after India's Bollywood.
But many filmmakers are now turning to YouTube to chase viewers who have headed online in response to the rising costs of streaming services, pricey movie theater tickets and decisions by Netflix and Amazon to cut back on investments in local film and TV production.
Attackers kill over 50 in volatile central Nigerian state
In a grim escalation of long-standing violence in Plateau state’s ungoverned rural hinterlands, some 100 people were killed in two weeks. No one really knows what is going on, but that isn’t stopping politicians from speculating of a “genocide” by “terrorists” who are “sponsored” by outside actors.
After all, that would be a much more convenient story for authorities to tell than admitting that long-standing problems around intercommunal violence have been festering, and getting worse, for years under their watch — and are now boiling over.
One small thing I can do, as someone tasked with covering such grim incidents, is choose what bits to emphasize. In our reports, I’ve added this to our “boilerplate copy” — the sort of background you slap into every story.
Though millions of Nigerians of different backgrounds live side by side, intercommunal violence often flares in Plateau state.
Because that first part really is important for people to know — both for people in Nigeria and abroad.
On a brighter note, we have a story in the hopper about mixed-faith Muslim-Christian families in Plateau state. Should be out later this week.
Other dispatches:
Ghana bans foreigners from local gold trading in major overhaul
African Development Bank chief warns of tariff 'shock wave'
Nigeria calls for release of Niger's ousted leader
Authorities ban song critical of president's economic record
Nigerian celebrity jailed for abusing banknotes
Landmine blast kills eight in northeast: governor
Militant groups claim attacks on Nigerian oil facilities
Hundreds facing witchcraft accusations in Ghana need protection: Amnesty