How Pele’s 1969 visit reshaped Nigerian football
In 1969, with a civil war raging, global football's biggest star arrived in Benin City as part of a visit that would change Nigerian football forever.
Those involved still remember the occasion vividly.
"It was all about Pele. Before…
How a young musician captured the music of Rwanda
The singer, songwriter and producer Michael Makembe has compiled an audio library with almost 1,000 recordings of people singing, clapping and playing traditional instruments
In a studio in Kigali, Rwanda, Michael Makembe sits down…
One woman’s forgotten story reveals a dirty truth about Africa’s written histories
Regina Twala was an influential writer and political activist of the 50s and 60s. Yet while European men gained acclaim from her work, her name was almost erased from memory.
Over the course of 2018, during a research period in the…
The secret life of André Leon Talley: what an auction reveals about the late fashion legend
From monogrammed luggage to unerring faith, a sale of Talley’s belongings shows the caring, complicated man behind the unforgettable image
If you’re in the market for a size 13 pair of Manolo Blahnik snakeskin evening slippers edged…
I am going back to Ukraine to study
Meandering through the bustling traffic in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, Oyewumi Azeez Olawale makes his way to a visa appointment.
Just a year ago, the Nigerian medical student was scrambling to find safe passage out of Ukraine after the…
Inside Villa Somalia: 72 hours with the president promising to rebuild his broken country
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia’s factions can find peace, political Islam need not be violent and democracy can grow. Here’s his exclusive interview with the Observer:
The drive from Mogadishu airport to the presidential home at…
Meet Cambridge University’s youngest black professor
Diagnosed with autism and global development delay in his early years, Jason Arday was unable to speak until he was 11 years old and could not read or write until he was 18. Now aged 37, he is about to become the youngest black person ever…
The mission to save the biggest frog on earth
When Cedrick Fogwan had his first encounter with the goliath frog he was impressed by its mighty proportions.
Growing to the size of a cat, it's the world's largest living frog.
Almost like holding a (human) baby, he says, having…
Fernanda Pineda: We counted 150 murders
Fernanda Pineda photographs young people finding ways to express themselves and avoid gang warfare in one of the country’s most violent cities
Rhianna is an Afro-Colombian who lives in one of the most violent places in Colombia: Quibdó.…
After 102 children, Ugandan villager says enough is enough
Musa Hasahya Kasera says his vast family includes 12 wives, 102 children and as many as 578 grandchildren.
Musa Hasahya Kasera has so many children he can’t remember most of their names.
The Ugandan villager…
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