In Uganda, a new approach to ending sexual and gender based violence: training men
This week, we start in Nigeria, where Cameroonian refugees have found safety but still hope to return home. Next, we head to Ghana, where anti-LGBTQ sentiment is growing since Trump’s return to office. Finally, we travel back to Nigeria, where a software engineer is teaching digital skills to the visually impaired.
But first, queer people and their stories are often misrepresented in Nigerian media, using biased and sensationalised reporting to promote homophobia and harmful stereotypes. Unsurprisingly, as a result, many queer journalists have turned to international outlets or created their own platforms, like Q-Convos, to share authentic stories.
We explore this topic further in our latest article. Read an excerpt here👇🏽:
“They want you to say something negative”: Queer Nigerian journalists face systemic exclusion
Vincent Desmond, a Nigerian writer, knows what exclusion feels like. As an openly queer journalist in Nigeria, he has seen doors shut before they ever opened.
“When it comes to Nigerian publications I don’t bother pitching queer stories, most of them aren’t open to it and the ones who are would want you to say something negative about the queer identity, and that’s not my vibe,” he shares. “Because I’m openly queer, I kind of can’t get into a space that is not really accepting. There are traditional media houses that will not employ somebody like me.”
From bylines to headlines, queer Nigerians are routinely erased in mainstream media. Desmond made these remarks on Q-Convos, a podcast that strives to fill the narrative gap, but the absence of authentic queer storytelling in Nigerian mainstream media remains glaring. Queer lives are distorted, misrepresented, or ignored altogether.
In August 2024, the death of popular queer TikToker “Abuja Area Mama” gained social media traction. The 33-year-old crossdresser was found beaten to death on a highway. While international media framed the case as a human-rights violation and a reflection of Nigeria’s treatment of LGBTQIA+ people, mainstream outlets and blogs ran headlines like “Culpable homicide: Police reveal real name of popular crossdresser found dead on Abuja expressway,” offering no context or compassion.
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In Uganda, a new approach to ending sexual and gender based violence: training men
After an hour’s walk from the primary school he teaches in, Samuel Abong usually gets home at about 7:00 pm. As is routine, he checks his children’s school books and helps with the remaining chores in the household.
His mornings are busy too. Abong makes sure the children are bathed and ready for school, something his wife used to do.
Although this comes easily for him now, it has not always been so.
“It was challenging,” Abong says, laughing. “But the more I did [housework], the more I got used to it. Now it is something normal for me.”
The 29-year-old father of four living in Moroto district in the northern region of Uganda has been following this routine since March 2021 after going through training on gender equality with MenEngage Uganda is a social network organisation that focuses on working with men and boys on issues around gender justice and equality
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Amadou Bagayoko: the blind Malian musician whose joyful songs changed west African music
Amadou Bagayoko (1954-2025), iconic Malian guitarist, singer and composer of the famed duo Amadou & Mariam – known as “the blind couple of Mali” – passed away on 4 April in Bamako. He was 70.
The married singers, who met when she was 18 and he 21, took traditional Mali music and blended it with western rock and many other influences to shape a whole new sound that was both rich and playful. They would sell millions of albums for hits like Sunday in Bamako and Sabali.
They would tour the world, opening the 2006 men’s Football World Cup, closing the 2024 Paralympics, singing at former US president Barack Obama’s Nobel Prize concert, winning awards and selling millions of albums.