Africa Is a Country

'I wanna be a Nigerian so freaking bad'

'I wanna be a Nigerian so freaking bad'

By
Sean Jacobs

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzbvPa5npmo&w=560&h=349]

UPDATE: This video, “I wanna be a Nigerian so freaking bad,” by a group of American high schoolers focusing on Nigeria in an AP Comparative Politics class, is a minor Youtube hit. The song is a tongue in cheek rip-off of “Billionaire” by Travis McCoy and Bruno Mars. Why Nigeria? “Our teacher has gone to Nigeria multiple times and helped create the documentary Sweet Crude.”  (A few lazy blogs, cutting and pasting, kept writing that they were Russian.) The video has had more than 10,000 views since it was posted on June 6.  Some decent political insights, but what’s with the guy in the loincloth? On that, one of the students who made the video has responded on Youtube:

… the guy in the “diaper” has nothing to do with the video more of a way to make our class laugh. We know there are not all villages it just fit with the original song … This video in no way was meant to offend or make fun of Nigerians or their culture. We are sorry to all we offended.

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.