Funerals honour the life of the deceased. Nigeria’s elaborate and expensive funerals are rooted in history and are not unique to that country. But, says Cosmic Yoruba, the high costs and expectations surrounding these events can place a strain on the wallet and the emotions

At first sight, the Jawara look African, but genetically they have more in common with South Asians. They are considered to be one of the earliest people to have walked this earth – and now their livelihood is in danger.

The porn culture in Nigeria is growing: Nigerians are said to consume the most porn online, surpassing the United States. Now, a small number of Nigerian producers are creating a home-grown industry by making and sharing sexually explicit content online.

Unoma Azuah is a Nigerian academic and the author of Length of Light and Sky-high Flames, both works of fiction. In this interview, she spoke to TIA contributor Cosmic Yoruba about her latest project, Blessed Body, an anthology of real-life stories from Nigeria’s LGBT community.

The Daily Telegraph recently posted an article by a Nigerian lawyer suggesting that skin-bleaching is OK because women do it to be more attractive, and that’s their prerogative. It’s not the first time someone has defended the practice and missed the point.

It’s a common misconception that Africans tended to go barefoot before the Europeans kindly turned up with shoes. This is far from the truth, and is another microcosm of prejudices about life on the continent before colonialism…

The fuss about female pop artists like Nigerian Tiwa Savage posing semi-nude in their music videos or displaying their bodies in public raises some important questions: do women own their own bodies? And why do men feel the need to police female sexuality?

If most Nigerians are to be believed, we do not use sex toys. But somebody’s buying all the sex toys sold in Nigeria, and it’s not uncommon to see ads for sex toys in newspapers. Are we just shy about talking about using “aids” to jazz up our sex lives?

There are few religions as globally misunderstood as African traditional religions. Whether it is being wrongly labelled voodoo, juju or witchcraft, indigenous African faith systems tend to be associated with darkness, animal and human sacrifices, violence and general backwardness