Entries by Dami Ajayi

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Poet Scorned: A Review of Dami Ajayi’s “Affection and Other Accidents”

Affection and other Accidents is Dami Ajayi’s third poetry collection. The previous collections, Clinical Blues, and A Woman’s Body is a Country gathered critical acclaim and sealed Ajayi’s place as one of the most important poetic voices in contemporary African poetry. This latest collection continues the poetic tradition that has now become Ajayi’s trademark, except that it includes a minor […]

The history of music in Lagos, Nigeria: 1980s to the 2000s

Editor’s note:  First published on Yaba Left, this post is republished here with permission. Read the first part of this post here. Nigeria’s political climate in the 80s was rather turbulent with a succession of coup d’états. The country was not faring well economically. The security situation dealt a heavier blow on the nightlife economy. In fact, at […]

The Murder of Alhaji Ayinla Omowura

A Book Review of Festus Adedayo’s Ayinla Omowura: Life and Times of an Apala Legend I. Alhaji Ayinla Omowura was killed in a beer parlour brawl on May 6, 1980 in Ago Ika, Abeokuta. Aged 47 at time of death, he was an apala musician at the height of his powers. He had waxed about 20 […]

Dámì Àjàyí: I remain a lyrical poet

Dámì Àjàyí’s recent book is Affection & Other Accidents (2022). Dàmì Àjàyí is a poet as well as a psychiatrist, currently living in London. I caught up with him over Google document and Twitter DM — this is while he is touring with Affection & Other Accidents. We discuss language, naming and healing after a […]

A Nigerian Poet’s Dangerous Amorous Episodes

In the traditions that established earlier voices in modern Africa poetry, sociopolitical maladies have remained an arch theme. In the words of Omafune Onoge, what rocks African poetry most is the crisis of consciousness. And it is expected. Given the social political terrain of postcolonial Africa and the disillusionment that followed. Most African poets, ranging from […]

Nigeria: Aṣa’s fifth album ‘V’ is positive and made in Lagos

Paris-born Nigerian singer Aṣa’s fifth studio album, ‘V’, is already being labelled a classic. Some pundits may find this an early call but a cohort of music critics – and a teeming listening audience – have returned a favourable verdict. This becomes important when we revisit Aṣa’s discography. For context, V arrives barely three years after her […]

How to Use a Friday Night

Lagos is the city of sin. It plays host to jaded men, lying women and tons of broken dreams. Here, married men say “it’s not that serious” when asked about their rings by the single ladies who do a poor job of feigning coyness. On a Friday, it’s easy to mistake Allen Avenue for Adeniran […]

The Ordinary Events of a Dying Day

Kofi was getting married in Warri and I had a morning flight to catch. The plane was scheduled to depart Lagos at 9.20 a.m. and arrive in Warri at 10.30 a.m. The time was 8.30 a.m. The Domestic Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was rowdy. The queue at the counter was disorderly. A […]