Moment of Clarity, April 6, 2015: Nigerian (?) Soldiers Dance Skelewu

Screengrab from the Video

“Soldiers in Maiduguri, the embattled capital of Borno state, which has been under constant siege by Boko Haram, celebrate Nigeria’s election to music by Nigerian recording artist Davido” (via CCTV Africa):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIKH0IlBGdc

CCTV Africa sites top African footballers like Emmanuel Adebayor (is he still around?) and Samuel Eto’o for popularizing Skelewu beyond its Nigerian base. Davido’s official music video–posted on Youtube–has had more than 10 million views thus far when we checked earlier today). Skelewu “is variously said to refer to money, love or elation.” In any case, the video (UPDATE: which may be a few weeks old) is a neat bit of–unintended?–propaganda for Nigeria’s army assailed by the people it claims to protectin Western media media and by its neighbors for its seemingly inept reaction to Boko Haram. UPDATE: We were just informed those can’t be Nigerians–the patterns on their uniforms either indicate Cameroon or Niger and in any case, “no Nigerian would dance Skelewu so badly!”

Further Reading

Davido’s jacket

Davido’s appearance at ‘Amapiano’s biggest concert’ turned a night of celebration into a study in Afrophobia, fandom, and the fragile borders of South African cultural nationalism.

Empty riddles

Drawing on his forced migration from Rwanda, Serge Alain Nitegeka reflects on the forms, fragments, and unsettled histories behind his latest exhibition in Johannesburg.