Look & Laugh, Fela Kuti

With this soulful melody from his 'Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense' album Fela denounces how Nigeria remains stuck in the same troubled state while poverty and government corruption continue. After years of fierce political activism, arrests, and beatings by military regimes, the song explains his choice to step back and simply watch the absurdity of the system. Instead of crying or fighting an unresponsive system, he concludes that he must "look and laugh" at the tragicomic state of society. The track famously ends with Fela and his band laughing out loud together.

I have posted only the opening of the song. The full song in Parts 1 & 2 can be found here

Democracy In Traditional Africa

On this subject of democracy again. This is a subject that is of great interest to me. 

Traditional African societies practiced functioning indigenous forms of democracy, featuring consensus-building, popular participation, and checks and balances, long before modern Western models were formalised. 

While Western political thought often traces democracy exclusively to ancient Greece and Enlightenment Europe, historical and anthropological evidence shows that many pre-colonial African societies possessed robust mechanisms for accountable leadership and community governance. 

Many societies, such as the Igbo in Nigeria or the Chewa in Malawi, prioritised deep discussion until general agreement or consensus was reached, rather than relying on a simple 51% majority that alienates minorities. 

Centralised systems like the Oyo Empire utilised councils of elders and chiefs (such as the Oyomesi) with the power to check royal overreach, sometimes compelling a ruler to abdicate if they lost the confidence of the people. 

The Oromo people of East Africa practiced the sophisticated Gadaa system, a democratic socio-political model that rotated leadership and administrative power every eight years without ballots, ensuring a peaceful transfer of authority. 

Historically, there were significant checks and balances on the power of the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. While the Kabaka held vast centralised authority, he was not an absolute autocrat free from accountability.

Many communities operated without rigid state hierarchies. Village assemblies allowed adult members (varying by local custom) open forums to debate community matters, manage resources, and hold leaders accountable.

European colonial powers frequently dismissed these indigenous systems as "primitive" or "stateless," imposing authoritarian or direct-rule bureaucracies that dismantled traditional mechanisms of accountability. When Western-style representative democracy was later introduced during decolonisation, it was often decoupled from local history and traditions. 

Scholars emphasise that recognising pre-colonial African democracy counters the narrative that Africa was a passive recipient of political freedom, framing modern democratic aspirations on the continent as a revival of ancient communal traditions rather than a mere imitation of the West. 

Afrofuturism, Africa at the forefront of avant garde design

Burkino-Faso-born architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, became the first African to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. His highly esteemed work, including permanent and temporary structures, have been erected in his country of birth, but also across Africa, Europe and the United States.

Mr Kéré, 61, was elated to receive what is considered architecture's most renowned award, telling the BBC he was "very happy, very proud. It was a huge surprise."

Diébédo Francis Kéré is a respected authority in the field of architecture. He worked as a lecturer at his alma mater Technical University of Berlin, teaching how to design buildings ecological and socially adequate to their environment. In the summer of 2012 Kéré lectured at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and in autumn 2012 he was a visiting professor at Harvard. In February 2013 he began teaching at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. In 2017 Kéré took over the newly created professorship for Architectural design and Participation at the Technical University of Munich. He was a visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture. In 2021 Kéré took a position as guest professor at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany.

He is the Principal & Founder of Kéré Architecture, leading this internationally renowned, Berlin-based architectural firm which he founded in 2005. The studio specialises in socially-engaged, climate-responsive, and sustainable design across multiple continents. 

He is a Professor of Architectural Design and Participation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), where he he holds a permanent professorship and has been teaching and leading research into participatory building methods. 

Kèré is also the President & Founder of the Kéré Foundation. He directs this non-profit organisation (originally Schulbausteine für Gando) dedicated to implementing sustainable public infrastructure, healthcare, and educational facilities in marginalised communities, specifically in his home country of Burkina Faso. 

He is the Director of the Tenkodogo Training Centre where he oversees an expanded architectural training and research hub in Burkina Faso, focusing on teaching global craftspeople and architects how to build energy-efficient structures using local, vernacular materials.

He is one of National Geographic's 2026 Changemakers. 

Some of his active projects include:

•The Benin National Assembly building (under construction).

•The Las Vegas Museum of Art in downtown Las Vegas (designed in collaboration with SOM).

•The Ineza Clinic in rural Burundi.

•The newly completed Goethe-Institut in Dakar, Senegal.

The story of West African architecture is being rewritten on the global stage, and for a fellow West African, there is no greater beacon of this transformation than Diébédo Francis Kéré. His rise to the pinnacle of global architecture is more than a personal triumph; it is a profound cultural validation. His work serves as a masterclass in how to honour our roots while shaping the future. For an aspiring creative from the same soil, Kéré is not just an inspiration—he is a blueprint for how we can redefine our continent's identity through design. Seeing his work teaches me that our heritage is not a limitation; it is our greatest asset. 

Kéré’s philosophy redefines the very purpose of an architect from an isolated artist to a community collaborator. In many West African cultures, community and collectivism—the spirit of Ubuntu or Kapital—define daily life. Kéré seamlessly weaves this cultural fabric into his building process. He does not just deliver a blueprint; he invites the community to gather, learn, and build together. By training local men and women in advanced brickmaking and construction techniques, he ensures that the process of creation leaves the community richer in skill and pride. This teaches us that architecture is not merely about erecting beautiful objects; it is about creating spatial dignity and fostering social equity.

Diébédo Francis Kéré inspires me because he represents a bridge between what was, what is, and what can be. He has shown me that as West Africans, we have a duty to create spaces that breathe with our climate, speak our cultural languages, and respect our economic realities. He has paved the way, proving that our stories, our materials, and our communal values are worthy of world-class celebration.

NIGERIA: The Giant and Heartbeat of a Continent | 1 Hour Full Documentary

 By Africa Revealed 

Things I Feel Strongly About: Rumba

Things I Feel Strongly About: Rumba: Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic ...

Travel vlogging today

I was concerned about the current trends in travel vlogging, and wondered how the desires of the more thoughtful person in search of travel stories might be fulfilled. So I proposed the following to an AI chat bot:-

"There's not much intellectuality in the travel vlogging that fills the internet. Much of this kind of vlogging is limited to scenes and images, not necessarily the deeper, more meaningful stories that a thoughtful person might be hoping to see and hear. Discuss."

Then I received this response:

"You have pointed out a very real and visible shift in how we consume travel media. Much of the travel vlogging that dominates the internet today prioritises visual spectacle over intellectual or cultural depth, transforming what used to be a medium for storytelling into a fast-paced gallery of beautiful, but often hollow, imagery. Here is a breakdown of why travel vlogging has leaned away from "intellectuality".

The economics of modern internet platforms heavily favour short-form, high-stimulation content. Referred to as "the Attention Economy", platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts reward creators for hooking a viewer in the first two seconds. A stunning drone shot of a cliffside in Amalfi or an aesthetic slow-motion clip of a cafe is instantly digestible. A deep dive into the socio-economic history of that same Italian village requires time that the algorithm rarely rewards.Then there is the rise of "vibe" over substance. Travel content has increasingly shifted from travel journalism to lifestyle marketing. The focus is often less about the destination itself and more about how the vlogger looks and feels in that destination. The location becomes a mere backdrop for personal branding.

The internet hasn't completely killed intellectual travel storytelling; rather, the dominant platforms have buried it beneath an avalanche of highly aesthetic, easily monetisable lifestyle content. The "thoughtful person" can still find deeply meaningful stories, but it now requires active curation rather than relying on what the algorithm serves up on the front page."

When I am telling a story, I aspire to tell the story in the manner of Alan Whicker of old, and more recently Michael Palin. Even though those men were at the centre of the stories they told from around the world, the stories were never about themselves personally. You watched their storytelling and came away with having learned so much. It was real travel journalism. I try to do the same through my own preferred medium of expression, which is writing. The purpose, in my humble opinion, should be, through one's journalistic efforts, to capture the essence of the place that one is visiting.

Nowadays, though, it seems to be more about lifestyle than about travel.

PS: Donald Alan Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme Whicker's World for over 30 years. I used to watch him avidly when I was growing up, as he took us around the world.