We can build atomic weapons, synthetic CDOs and increasingly powerful AI systems. But can we still explain clearly what we have created and what the risks are? Hannah Arendt raised this problem in 1958. Social media may have added another dimension: words themselves can remain simple while becoming detached from shared reality.
Author: Tade Oyebode
Thousands of Likes, But Where Are the Votes? Nigeria’s Online and Electoral Politics
Nigeria’s social-media political landscape can look very different from the politics revealed at the ballot box. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s idea of plurality and recent Nigerian election results, this article examines the gap between online political visibility and real-world electoral strength.
Living in the Nexus of Several Meaning Systems
On 5 September 2026, I sat down to write this so that I would not forget a discussion I witnessed earlier in July. At the end, it became a reflection on my own identity. I completely forgot about this until a discussion I had on 19 September 2026 at a party to celebrate one of… Continue reading Living in the Nexus of Several Meaning Systems
When Fiction Becomes Evidence: Nollywood (Both Christian and Secular) and the Production of Supernatural Belief
Nollywood does not merely reflect beliefs about witches, occult powers, emere, ogbanje, spiritual spouses and demonic manipulation; through repeated representation, it also helps produce, reinforce and legitimise those beliefs. A few years ago, we spent a pleasant evening with some friends, all Nigerians. At some point, the conversation turned to so-called “African power”: the activities… Continue reading When Fiction Becomes Evidence: Nollywood (Both Christian and Secular) and the Production of Supernatural Belief
Navigating Yoruba Heritage and Christian Faith
I am Yoruba from South West of Nigeria. I will like to unbundle the religion of the Yorubas from our culture because I am a Christian and do not worship God in the manner in which my ancestors did, but I think interesting things in our culture is bound up in our religion. Unbundling the… Continue reading Navigating Yoruba Heritage and Christian Faith
