A curated selection of articles, essays and retellings on mythology, folklore and cultural memory from Nigeria and across Africa.
Zeb Ejiro's Domitilla followed a young woman selling sex to survive in a Lagos gutted by Nigeria's Structural Adjustment years. Beneath its melodrama, the 1996 film preserves how women bore the weight of economic collapse, and it stands today as an archive of the decade itself.
By Precious Peters· 5 min
Living in Bondage (1992) followed Andy Okeke's rise on a tide of blood money and his descent into haunted ruin. Nollywood's first blockbuster caught a Nigeria rattled by economic collapse and spiritual dread in the SAP years, condensing the decade's anxieties onto VHS.
By Somtochukwu Udeozo· 10 min
Tapped from the sap of palms and left to ferment by wild yeasts, palm wine sours from sweet to sharp within hours of leaving the tree. Across Africa and its diaspora, the milky drink has long lubricated ceremony and bound communities, an everyday wine poured at the heart of social life.
By Gbenga Salvador· 6 min
What if your destiny was a choice you made before you were even born? Dive into the Yoruba philosophy of Ori, a spiritual concept that explores the profound connection between your "inner head," your unique purpose, and the divine spark within.
By Jemima Oluwaseun· 15 min
In Igbo thought, destiny is a bargain struck before birth, witnessed by God and the ancestors, then carried out in the open world. It turns on the bond between chi, the personal god who assigns a fate, and ikenga, the will to achieve it, and a person's own choices can still strengthen or destroy it.
By Somtochukwu Udeozo· 9 min
In Zulu belief, the Tokoloshe is a small, hairy water spirit said to bring illness and bad dreams in the night. Feared as it is, it also helps keep order, often blamed when envy or ill will is suspected behind a household's misfortune.
By Precious Peters· 7 min
In the world of Zulu folklore, the line between human and spirit is thinner than the walls in a rental apartment and one can only hope that these ancestors are on their sides, because Lightning can indeed strike the same place twice.
By Inumidun Seyiolapade· 11 min
What if a god’s most profound gift was not an endless supply of miracles but the freedom to choose? Step into the Maasai’s unique world, where their god, Enkai, gave cattle as an initial gift, laying the groundwork for their entire culture.
By Nneoma Sally· 11 min
Among the Fon of Benin and the Ewe of Togo and Ghana, no sacrifice or prayer reaches the gods until Legba opens the way. Created by the divine twins Mawu-Lisa, he is the gatekeeper and divine linguist, a trickster who both guides and tests the mortals who seek him, from West Africa to Haitian Vodou.
By Precious Peters· 5 min
In Zulu belief, the living are never truly separated from the ‘living-dead.’ At the center of this connection stand the izangoma, diviners chosen to speak with the ancestors. But what does it take to become the sole voice between worlds?
By Jemima Oluwaseun· 14 min
Ṣọ̀pọ̀na, known in Yorùbá belief as one of Olodumare’s punitive deities, holds a complex role in traditional religion. Associated with both disease and healing, he embodies functions that address punishment and restoration. This piece examines his attributes, responsibilities, and place within the broader Yorùbá spiritual framework.
By Jemima Oluwaseun· 11 min
In 2023, Netflix brought the urban legend of Madam Koi-Koi to global screens with "The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi," Nollywood's first horror series on the platform. But the question is, did they get her right? Let's compare the ghost we grew up fearing to her slick new streaming makeover.
By Inumidun Seyiolapade· 8 min
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