The Culture Custodian (Est. 2014.)

BBLs Are No Longer Hushed and That’s a Problem

Freedom of choice is the ability to make decisions without being forced or unduly pressured by others.

4 weeks ago

How The Gathering On 100 is Curating a 100-Hour Cultural Reset in Lagos

To be a young adult in Lagos is to exist in a perpetual state of motion. Between navigating the relentless economic hustle, the pressures of digital visibility, and the chaotic hum of the city, finding a genuine moment to just breathe is a luxury. For years, Nigerian youth culture has heavily indexed on the turn […]

Amber Asuni

5 days ago

Open for Trade, Closed at the Border: Nigeria’s Visa Contradiction

Earlier this month, CNN’s international correspondent Larry Madowo posted a video from Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, where he had just paid a $80 non-refundable visa fee to enter Nigeria from Nairobi. In the clip, he questioned why Nigeria continues to charge visitors from African countries that, in some cases, have removed similar barriers for […]

Naomi Ezenwa

4 weeks ago

Kate Henshaw: More Than a Nollywood Icon

Kate Henshaw’s career is a template for utilising celebrity status for social impact, while still maintaining a strong presence and evolving on screen.

John Eriomala

2 months ago

Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso: The State of Military Rule in Africa Thus Far

The Alliance of Sahel States was able to formalize its break from ECOWAS, leaning heavily on the argument that the regional bloc does nothing more than serve Western interests. These military governments have been able to deflect diplomatic isolation through partnerships with Russia, China, and Turkey, creating an alternative network of political cover and military support.

Naomi Ezenwa

2 months ago

It’s a bit … concerning

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How To Lose A Match in 99 Goals

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Episode 245: “Your Toes are a Mess, You need to see a Pediatrician”

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Grok, Is This Real?

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Episode 244 :”S.T.I – Seyi Tinubu’s Internet”

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Symbol of Hope

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Episode 243: “Protect Your Towel” ft Jake Tapper

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Unlock Your Brain

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Something to Give

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Tony Tetuila’s Life is a Journey of Resilience and Grace

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The Economic Stewardship of Wale Edun

When not held to scrutiny, Edun could project the image of a steady, reform-minded technocrat, a man of institutional pedigree navigating an inherited storm. But the main problem with his tenure is in key failures: he spoke of fiscal discipline while failing to disburse approved capital budgets, and championed economic reform while ordinary Nigerians saw inflation surge, the naira weaken, and poverty rising.

Zainab Nasreen Muhammad

22 hours ago

Martell Is the Brand Behind the Podcast Documenting Afrobeats at Its Most Critical Moment

OkayAfrica presents the fifth season of Afrobeats Intelligence, its long-running music podcast hosted by Joey Akan, with Martell as sponsor for the new season. Five seasons in, the show has become something genuinely rare: a serious, sustained record of African music told by the people who made it, building an archive that holds its value […]

Amber Asuni

22 hours ago

Jameson Is Using Space and Experience to Shape Cultural Moments

During Easter, Jameson brought together a mosaic of people from different groups and communities for a two-day Open House at Jameson Yard in Lekki. The Open House brought together interactive experiences like the Cocktail Face-Off, where guests created their own Jameson cocktails, alongside Bants Sessions and other activities that encouraged easy camaraderie. A music-heavy atmosphere, […]

Favour Bamijoko

2 days ago

South Africa’s Xenophobic Violence Exposes Gaps in Regional Authority

The recent wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, captured in widely circulated videos, has once again brought a familiar issue back into focus. Groups of South Africans were seen confronting and, in some cases, violently attacking African migrants, demanding that they leave the country. Some of the footage showed individuals being forced out of […]

Naomi Ezenwa

2 days ago

Abimisola Anibaba is Capturing the African Immigrant Experience on Japa Diaries

Abimisola Anibaba is a multimedia storyteller and host of Japa Diaries, a podcast delving into the African immigrant experience, while also creating online content and consulting for social impact and media brands focused on culture, community, and creativity. Her Zillennial habits—Instagram/TikTok splits for work-pleasure blending, no comment fights, and viral lessons from 2020 misinformation or […]

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 days ago

Abimisola Anibaba is Capturing the African Immigrant Experience on Japa Diaries

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 days ago

Demilade Akingbe Needs A TikTok Support Group

Over the last couple of years, Demilade Akingbe has created content around food and culture, which captures the soul of Lagos. This has helped her make the transition into a full-time content creator whose impact has steadily compounded. This forms the backdrop of her feature on Obasanjo’s Internet. Who are you? What do you do? […]

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 weeks ago

Tabi Thinks Twitter is The Best Worst Social Media Platform

Tabi is a pop culture critic, humorist, and writer for her Substack newsletter Party’s Over, where she crafts prose, essays, and short stories probing the cognitive dissonance between natural instinct and social conditioning. In this version of Obasanjo’s Internet, she reflects on her day to day Internet habits and the evolution of her relationship with […]

Oluwamayowa Idowu

4 weeks ago

Tosin Adentan is Navigating Her Fear of Virality

Oluwatosin Adentan is a product designer, content creator, and self-proclaimed “noisemaker” who thrives on being boldly present online. Her unfiltered routines—waking to Snapchat/Twitter/Instagram checks, bedtime YouTube scrolling as a coping essential, and quick blocks/mutes for boundary-keeping—capture the internet as a chaotic pleasure hub for community-building (like 2023’s career-shifting discoveries) over disciplined work, with Instagram’s “controlled […]

Oluwamayowa Idowu

1 month ago

Kate Henshaw: More Than a Nollywood Icon

Kate Henshaw’s career is a template for utilising celebrity status for social impact, while still maintaining a strong presence and evolving on screen.

John Eriomala

2 months ago

Who is Nollywood Making Films For?

Conversely, in mainstream Nollywood, there exist two categories of filmmakers : the ones that make films for intellectuals and for the unthinking masses. There’s a pretension among members of both groups that they are different.

Seyi Lasisi

2 months ago

Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah on Absorbing the Interiority of Characters

Unlike Abraham, young Jessica wasn’t aware of the “promise” that moving from state to state held until she started acting in Nollywood.

Seyi Lasisi

5 days ago

Vincho Nchogu’s One Woman, One Bra, The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly’s Crocodile, and Other African Titles Head to the Tribeca Film Festival 2026

The Tribeca Film Festival has announced its official selection for its 2026 edition scheduled from 3rd to 14th June, 2026. The final selection which includes 118 feature films has few African titles selected. The titles include Vincho Nchogu’s One Woman, One Bra, Dione Roach and Steve Happi’s Jail Time Records, The Critics and Pietra Brettkelly’s […]

Seyi Lasisi

1 week ago

Nairobi-Based Filmmaker, Lydia Matata, Selected for 2026 Sundance Institute Cultural Impact Residency

Nairobi based filmmaker, Lydia Matata, has been selected as a 2026 Sundance Institute Cultural Impact Residency Fellows. Matata is one of the seven storytellers selected for the second year of the Sundance Collab residency. Matata is currently developing her debut feature film, Pepo Kali (Strong Wind) which follows a grieving mother who learns to ride […]

Seyi Lasisi

1 week ago

Cinema as Time Capsule : A Retrospective Review of Adeyemi Afolayan’s “Iya Ni Wura”

In 1966, Nigerian filmmaker and theatre producer, Adeyemi “Ade Love” Afolayan joined Moses “Baba Sala” Olaiya’s drama troupe, The Alawada Theatre Group. It was a five-year mentorship phase that evolved into a creative partnership when Ade Love directed Olaiya’s Mosebolatan in 1986. The film, which represents a definitive project of their professional relationships, was a […]

Seyi Lasisi

1 week ago

How 2016 Reshaped The Sound and Ambitions of Afrobeats

Days into 2026, quips about 2026 being the new 2016 began to circulate on social media. In a sense, this gestured at Gen Z’s relentless penchant for nostalgia, a phenomenon that’s as palpable in the music of the day as it is in fashion. It also doubles as a pun, or a meme, if you […]

Chibuzo Emmanuel

3 months ago

Martell Is the Brand Behind the Podcast Documenting Afrobeats at Its Most Critical Moment

Amber Asuni

22 hours ago

Omah Lay Is Still Soundtracking The Melancholy Of Young Nigerians

What he represents for many listeners is a self-portrait of dark emotions. Soso can’t take all our pains away. But sometimes, Omah Lay’s music can.

John Eriomala

4 days ago

“More To Life”: Alex Iwobi’s Curious Musical Detour Never Quite Finds a Destination

What makes More To Life difficult to fully engage with is not just its sound but its purpose.

Anjola Akinmade

4 days ago

New Music Friday: 10 Songs to Spice Up Your Weekend Playlists

New Music Friday is incomplete without Culture Custodian’s expertly curated recommendations. Afropop, hip-hop, R&B, folk: you name it, we’ve got it!

John Eriomala

1 week ago

Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso: The State of Military Rule in Africa Thus Far

Naomi Ezenwa

2 months ago

The Economic Stewardship of Wale Edun

Zainab Nasreen Muhammad

22 hours ago

South Africa’s Xenophobic Violence Exposes Gaps in Regional Authority

Naomi Ezenwa

2 days ago

How Do You Win Back Young Voters? The APC Has an Answer

What seemed like just another high-profile night in Lagos’ nightlife calendar has proven harder to read as just that. Earlier this month, Black Coffee headlined a major Afro-house event at the Royal Box Event Centre in Victoria Island, organised by M:E Entertainment and Dapo, with support from Caiiro, Da Capo, and Enoo Napa. It drew […]

Naomi Ezenwa

2 days ago

Two Nigerian Bartenders Named Among Global Black Barrel Series Winners

Two Nigerians, Kazeem Adefuye and Akilla Michael Adebisi have emerged winners of the global Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series. The global Jameson Black Bartender Series is a contest organised by the Jameson Black Barrel in which participants are tasked with developing distinctive cocktails built around Jameson Black Barrel, drawing on ingredients from their immediate environment, […]

Favour Bamijoko

1 week ago

Abimisola Anibaba is Capturing the African Immigrant Experience on Japa Diaries

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 days ago

Demilade Akingbe Needs A TikTok Support Group

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 weeks ago

Tabi Thinks Twitter is The Best Worst Social Media Platform

Oluwamayowa Idowu

4 weeks ago

Tosin Adentan is Navigating Her Fear of Virality

Oluwamayowa Idowu

1 month ago

How Dami Ajayi Blends Being A Music Nerd With A Reality TV Guilty Pleasure

Substack is like heyday Twitter when there was a true sense of community.

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 months ago

Abimisola Anibaba is Capturing the African Immigrant Experience on Japa Diaries

Oluwamayowa Idowu

2 days ago

7 Predictions For Nigerian Film in 2025

As we look back on the previous year’s releases, debuts, and industry-defining moments in Nigerian Film, it’s time we look forward and embrace what this year might hold for Nigerian Film. Here’s what and who to keep an eye on as the year continues to take shape. I do not come to you by chance […]

Culture Custodian Editorial Team

1 year ago