Nigerian Comics Serve Afrofuturism Direct From The Source

The massive success of Marvel’s Black Panther in 2018 opened a lot of eyes to the creative and commercial potential of Afrofuturism – science fiction rooted in Black cultural experience and Black storytelling styles. That influence didn’t end at the water’s edge: it echoed back its ancestral homelands, inspiring new efforts to bring homegrown African visions to a global audience primed for exciting new content.

Several interesting new digital comics efforts spring from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, entertainment hub (“Nollywood” is the world’s third largest film industry) and a hotbed of scrappy entrepreneurship. Because Nigeria can be a difficult market to penetrate for outsiders, much of the energy is coming from local startups who leapfrog legacy production and distribution methods, creating digital content for mobile phones favored by the young population.

Ayudeji Makinde is founder/CEO of ComicsDI, a startup digital comics company producing several episodic webcomics in various genres including a thriller, Lagelu: The Kingdom on Four Hills, Duro, featuring a mythical hero, and a pair of science fiction stories, The Futurology and Njeri. He says the industry has grown tremendously in the past 20 years, with publishers springing up as the global footprint of comics culture has expanded into Africa through events like the annual Lagos Comic Convention.

“I go to Lagos Comic Con every year,” says Makinde. “There are so many comic brands, it’s excellent.”

He believes the increasing global popularity of Afrofuturism is giving a boost to indigenous creators steeped in the cultures of the continent. “African Afrofuturism has the same attitudes and principles [as diaspora styles],” he says. “It’s a combination of fantasy and culture, looking to the future of African people. Coming from here, our understanding of the culture differs. We can craft it from our angle, in our unique voice.”

“We believe African comics and fiction stands as the future of global storytelling in mainstream media,” says Somto Ajuluchukwu, Founder and CEO of Vortex247, another Nigerian digital comics publisher and marketplace specializing in mythic fantasy (Land of the Gods), horror/mystery (Folk Tales), and superhero comics (Captain South Africa) from around the continent.

“We hope to be a propelling force and platform for this new age of entertainment content and create not just opportunity for individual creators with exceptional comics but a market place which would build an industry for young creators to monetize their stories and grow a fan base using our comics as a tool to export African culture and globalize our Afro lifestyle,” says Ajuluchukwu.

Like their counterparts in the US and around the world, Nigerian comic publishers have one eye on advancing their own medium with gorgeously-drawn, well-told stories and memorable characters, and one eye on the wider media potential of comics. The proximity to one of Africa’s biggest film production hubs helps, although many Nollywood feature films lean heavily on drama, action and practical effects without the big budgets that propel Hollywood blockbusters.

“We are currently in conversation with a few Nollywood and South African producers towards some adaptations, however most are still in the development stage for TV,” said Ajuluchukwu. “We also recently made a successful pitch to a mobile game studio based in Italy which would be adapting one of our VX Originals for an IOS mobile game.”

With animation becoming a growth industry around the continent, some properties are getting picked up for development as series or features. A highlight of the 2019 Lagos Comic Convention was an animated trailer for Malika: Warrior Queen - a popular graphic novel by Roye Okupe - from Lagos-based Anthill Studios.

For now, the biggest issues have to do with finance and infrastructure. Nigeria remains a rugged place to do business, although increased access to global online finance and distribution platforms is starting to help local creators and companies reach a broader audience.

“We have the skill, we have the creativity,” says Makinde. “Things are dragging because of financial issues, but creativity? The creativity is there.”

By Rob Salkowitz

Forbes

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‘Unrelenting’ insecurity: Nigeria reels after massacre of farmers

Security forces and volunteer vigilante groups in northeastern Nigeria are searching to find people still missing after dozens of civilians working in rice fields were slaughtered by armed men over the weekend.

Locals say they recovered 43 bodies after Saturday’s attacks in villages near Maiduguri, the capital of the restive Borno state, which has been plagued by an armed campaign for more than 10 years.

Amid divergent figures, the United Nations late on Sunday amended an earlier statement putting the death toll at 110 people to say that “tens of civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded” in the “brutal” assault that was led by men on motorcycles.

In the statement, Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, also cited “reports that several women may have been kidnapped” and called for their immediate release and return to safety.

In Zabarmari village, where a funeral was held for the victims of the attack on Sunday morning, a local resident who identified himself as Umar said “no one knows the exact number of people killed”.

“We can’t account for some farmers who were there during the attack,” Umar told Al Jazeera. “We don’t know if they are still hiding inside the bush or if the attackers kidnapped them,” he said, adding that local members of government-backed vigilante groups were currently conducting search operations.

“We have buried the ones we can find and hopefully we will recover more when the vigilante men return from their search,” Umar said.

“We have buried the ones we can find and hopefully we will recover more when the vigilante men return from their search,” Umar said.
‘Insecurity is pervasive, unrelenting’

But the news of the latest gruesome attack – one account reportedly said the attackers tied up the men and women harvesting crops and slit their throats – was met with outrage across the country.

On social media, many expressed indignation at the government’s failure to stop the bloodshed despite repeated promises. People called for a review of the country’s security system, including the dismissal of security chiefs.

“Contrary to the government’s trite, predictable assertions, it is obvious that insecurity is pervasive, unrelenting in Nigeria. The Buhari administration and the security agencies are wanting in tackling the security challenges bedevilling Nigeria,” Don Okereke, a security analyst, told Al Jazeera.

“The bitter truth is that Boko Haram have not been defeated, tactically or otherwise. A swathe of land in the northeast and northwest of the country can be likened to ungoverned space, hence terrorists will continue to launch sporadic attacks,” he said.

Most of the victims of Saturday’s assault were reported to be labourers hailing from Sokoto state in northwest Nigeria who were hired to work some 1,000km (620 miles) away on rice farms in Borno state.

“Pragmatically speaking, it is difficult to guarantee protection for farmers in northern Nigeria, nay other parts of the country because Nigerian security agencies are currently stretched and security agents cannot be everywhere at every point in time,” Okereke added.

After attending Sunday’s funeral, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum said people in the region were facing grim choices as they strive to survive.

“On one side, they stay at home [and] they may be killed by hunger and starvation,” Zulum said. “On the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents.”

Al Jazeera

Related stories: Scores Killed In Massacre Of Farmers In Nigeria

Video - At least 110 civilians killed in ‘gruesome’ Nigeria massacre

Video - At least 110 civilians killed in ‘gruesome’ Nigeria massacre

The UN says at least 110 civilians have been killed and many injured in attacks on two villages in northeast Nigeria. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. but the armed group Boko Haram has carried out a series of deadly assaults in the area in recent years. Security forces are looking for dozens more villagers who are missing, many of them women. It is the worst attack on civilians in Borno state this year. President Muhammadu Buhari claimed five years ago that Boko Haram had been defeated.

Mob beats suspected kidnapper to death in Nigeria

A yet-to-be identified middle-aged man, accused of attempting to kidnap a boy, was on Saturday beaten to death by a mob in Omuo Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area, Ekiti State.

The incident occurred at Iludofin quarters of Omuo Ekiti where the deceased attempted to kidnap a seven-year-old boy but was apprehended by angry youths.

An eyewitness revealed that the incident happened around 2:30p.m. when the pupils were returning from school. He disclosed that the attempted kidnapping went sour when a man, who was defecating in a nearby bush, sighted the deceased and raised the alarm as the suspected kidnapper was forcibly dragging the boy into the surrounding bush.

Residents were said to have trooped out en masse and pounced on the suspect, beating him to coma.

“The suspect was trailing the boy home from school. When he realised that he had reached a footpath, he pounced on him and started dragging him into the bush. It was a man who was looking from afar that raised an alarm and the people caught him in the act and beat him to stupor. It was later that the police arrived and took him to the station.”

While confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, ASP Sunday Abutu, said the man died immediately he got to the police station.

Abutu said it was the High Chief Odofin of Iludofin quarters that reported the matter to the police.

“When we got the information, the police rushed to the scene of the incident, but the man had already gone into coma.

“The mob was thick, but the police tried and rescued him and the intention was to first take him to the station for a cover before taking him to the hospital for medical attention. Unfortunately, he died in the station as a result of the beating”.

Abutu said the suspect’s body had been deposited in the morgue at Omuo Ekiti General Hospital while investigation into the matter continues.

The police spokesman, however, cautioned against jungle justice, advising that any suspect arrested should be handed over to the police for investigation and prosecution.

By Ayodele Afolabi

The Guardian

Scores Killed In Massacre Of Farmers In Nigeria

Scores are dead after armed men on motorcycles gruesomely attacked agricultural workers in northeastern Nigeria.

Officials say the attack occurred Saturday in the country's Borno state. Multiple outlets report that suspected Islamist militants attacked the farmers while they were harvesting the fields in a rural part of the state.

Residents told Reuters at least 70 were killed during attack. A U.N. official in the region, Edward Kallon, said "tens" of civilians were killed.

"The incident is the most violent direct attack against innocent civilians this year. I call for the perpetrators of this heinous and senseless act to be brought to justice," said Kallon, who serves as the resident and humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria.

The U.N. Security Council said that "those responsible for these terrorist attacks should be held accountable."

Reuters reports that 30 of the victims were beheaded in the attack. At least ten women were reportedly still missing as of Sunday.

Though no one has claimed responsibility, Reuters and the BBC note that at least two militant groups are active in the area: Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province.

Both groups have carried out massacres in the region before. More than 37,000 people have died in incidents involving Boko Haram, the Council on Foreign Relationsestimates.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said: "I condemn the killing of our hard-working farmers by terrorists in Borno state. The entire country is hurt by these senseless killings. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace," the BBC reported.

On Sunday, 43 of those killed were buried in a service, according to Reuters, where the governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum, called on the federal government to recruit more forces to protect farmers in the area.

Zulum also made reference to rising food prices in the country, while speaking at the burials.

"In one side, they stay at home [where] they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents," Zulum said, Reuters reported.

By Jason Slotkin

NPR