The news cycle this week has been dominated by the unprovoked attacks on African immigrants, their homes, prperties and businesses the businesses of African immigrant by South African citizens. This isn’t the first time attacks of this nature have happened, and each time these attacks have been motivated by xenophobia, the fear of foreigners. Xenophobia has informed many truly horrible events in Africa’s history, from the infamous ‘Ghana Must Go’ incident to Libya’s slave trade that disproportionately targets immigrants.
This week on Rubbin’ Minds, Adeoye Adelaja and Godbless Otubure, sit with Japheth Omojuwa to discuss xenophobia on the continent, the retailatory attacks they trigger and the true cost of mistrust among Africans. Otubure is a seasoned social activist and has worked with MTN Nigeria to help execute their social change programmes. Adeoye Adelaja’s background in politics makes him uniquely suited to offer insights on the reluctance of government officials in Nigeria and South Africa to comment on events.
This week we are also highlighting the work of documentary and fashion photographer, Stephen Tayo. Tayo’s career as a photographer really took off when he moved to Kano state for his service year and began to document life in a culture separate from his own, showing at the 2017 Lagos Photo Festival. Since then Tayo’s work has been featured on the New York Times, Vogue magazines across the world and exhibited in the Netherlands. Last week, he debuted new work for the New York Times, done in collaboration with Joey Akan, a respected Nigerian culture journalist, profiling 5 Nigerian musicians leading a revolution in the music industry. Stephen and Joey join Japheth this week to discuss their new project and their contributions to Nigerian creative industry.
We round out the show with our celebrity guest, LAX. LAX is one of the country’s crossover rappers, gaining mainstream success in an industry that prioritizes afrobeats over other genres. LAX shares with us his journey so far, new projects in the works and how he chooses to influence the industry. Worth every second of your Sunday afternoon.
LAX Celebrity interview
Joey Akan and Stephen Tayo
New York Times new guard of music
Edwin Okolo is an author and journalist who has worked with YNaija, TheNativemag and the Naked Convos.
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