The Splendid Tapestry of African Life
Essays on a Resilient Continent, its Diaspora, and the World
Published on 24. June 2025
620 pages
978-1-040-40674-8 (ISBN)
Description
The 145 essays in this comprehensive, concise, and highly readable book represent three decades of Adekeye Adebajo's reflections and writing on the history, regional integration, politics, military rule, foreign policy, international relations, geo-politics, culture, film, sports, and travel of Africa and its diaspora. The legacies of this Black Atlantic in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean are examined panoramically, as Africa's independence struggles from the 1950s were also mirrored by similar battles in the Caribbean and America's civil rights struggle. The volume further assesses the world beyond global Africa from a Pan-African perspective. This book thus seeks to capture the zeitgeist of the post-apartheid era after the five-century quest for liberation from the twin scourges of the European-led transatlantic slavery and colonialism. The essays ultimately encapsulate Pan-African efforts to break the chains of Western slavery and colonial exploitation, and to assert global Africa's own proud histories, cultures, and identities.
Print edition not for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Print edition not for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Reviews / Votes
'Adekeye Adebajo has put together an extraordinary collection of his essays, both scholarly and literary, true to the depth and breadth of his knowledge of African and international affairs. I have long been a great admirer of his scholarship and literary talents, which often brings to mind the combination I have always associated with another legendary scholar, Professor Ali Mazrui - an educator and an entertainer.'Francis Deng, Former UN Special Representative on Internal Displacement, fFormer UN Senior Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, and Former Visiting Professor at New York University, and Columbia and Yale Law Schools, United States
'A masterful tapestry of writings from one of the foremost scholars of Africa's international relations. This broad collection of essays offers astute and engaging reflections on the hopes, triumphs, and sorrows of the continent, blending sharp analysis and critique with genuine celebration of Africa's talents, accomplishments, and ideals. Highly readable and deeply provocative, this is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to grasp Africa's complexities and its evolving role in the world.'
Devon EA Curtis, Director of the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge, England
'The modern world cannot be understood without acquiring knowledge of Africa and its diasporas. Adekeye Adebajo, one of Africa's most gifted scholars, has done us a great favour by producing a book containing 145 essays illuminating Africa and its relationships with peoples throughout the world. Adebajo's book is essential reading for those who dare to be citizens of the world.'
Aldon Morris, Professor Emeritus of Sociology & Black Studies, Northwestern University, United States
'Adekeye Adebajo has indeed presented us with a splendid tapestry, bringing together three decades of reflections, analyses, insights, and commentary on diverse global issues related to Africa and its Diaspora which he terms "Global Africa".' Rhoda Reddock, Professor Emerita, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica
'Adekeye Adebajo's essays take us on a wondrous journey of Africa and its people. It is written with integrity, deep knowledge, compassion, and a wonderful turn of phrase. Adebajo must rank as one of the most iconic commentators on Africa and its place in the world. He is simultaneously brutally honest and wholeheartedly celebratory. It is a journey of love.'
Ahmed Bawa, former Vice-Chancellor of the Durban University of Technology, and Professor at the Johannesburg Business School, South Africa
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
File size
16,23 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-40674-8 (9781040406748)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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Adekeye Adebajo
The Splendid Tapestry of African Life
Essays on a Resilient Continent, its Diaspora, and the World
Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€210.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Adekeye Adebajo is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Content
SPLENDID TAPESTRY OF AFRICAN LIFE
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction: From the Black Atlantic to Global Africa
Part 1: The Black Atlantic: Legacies of Slavery and Imperialism
1. The Role of the Pan-African Intellectual
2. The Pan-African Pantheon: Slavery, Colonialism, and Reparations
3. Pan-Africanism: From Nkrumah to Nollywood
4. Germany's Forgotten Genocide in Namibia
5. Revisiting the Curse of Berlin
6. God Is Not an African
7. Nigeria and South Africa: The Heirs of Rhodes and Lugard
8. Support for Cecil Rhodes by Oxford's Biggar Beggars Belief
9. 'The Natives Are Getting Restless': Western Prophets of Afrophobia
10. Is Africa Hopeless? A Response to Richard Dowden
11. Dead Aid or Brain Dead? A Response to Dambisa Moyo
12. Stephen Ellis's Afrophobia
13. The Rich Tapestry of Afro-Caribbean British Life
14. Requiem for the Monuments Men
15. Revisiting the 2001 Durban Conference Against Racism
16. From Abuja to Durban: Africa's 30-Year Quest for Reparations
17. Unmasking Anglo-Saxon Anti-Reparationists
18. The Global Apartheid of Covid-19
19. Pan-African Lessons for Transforming Humanities Curricula
20. Haiti Hurricane Puts Republic of NGOs' Exploitation in Focus
Part II: Towers of Babel: The Challenges of Regionalism in Africa
21. African Unity at 60: Revisiting the 1963 Addis Ababa Conference
22. The African Union: From Durban to Addis Ababa
23. Not Yet Uhuru: The African Union at 20
24. Of Marabouts and Alchemy: The Kagame Report on AU Reform
25. Kagame versus Adedeji: Debating the African Free Trade Area
26. A Griot's Tale: ECOWAS at 40
27. West Africa's Brexit Moment Could Fuel Regional Turmoil
28. SADC Needs to Overcome Flaws to Benefit Subregion
29. The Spirit of Georgetown: Regionalism in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific
30. The Spirit of Bandung: Afro-Asian Co-operation in Global Politics
Part III: Madmen and Specialists: Politics and the Military in Africa
31. Africa at 50: Reversing the Curse of Berlin
32. Africa Is on the Move
33. The Return of Africa's Men on Horseback
34. West Africa's 'Men on Horseback' March onto the National Stage
35. Africa's Sick Presidents
36. Africa's Youth Are on the March Against the Old Order
37. Africa's Five Pillars
38. The Great Lakes of Crocodiles
39. Ending Africa's Thirty Years' War
40. Uganda at 50: Of Coups, Coffee, and Crude Oil
41. Kenya at 50: Not Yet Uhuru?
42. Always Something New out of Africa
43. On the Revolutions in Sudan and Algeria
Part IV: The Eagle and the Springbok: Nigeria and South Africa
44. Nigeria and South Africa: A Shakespearean Drama
45. Nigeria and South Africa Try to 'Reset' Relations
46. The Nigeria-South Africa Palaver
47. On the Xenophobic Attacks against Nigerian Citizens in South Africa
48. The Eagle and the Springbok: Nigeria and South Africa
49. Africa's Hobbled Hegemons
50. The Dangers of Academic Journalism: A Response to Mills Soko
51. Nigeria at 60: From Balewa to Buhari
52. Remembering Biafra
53. Nigeria: In the Burning Ashes
54. Opium for Sale: Buyer Beware!
55. Nigeria's Curious Election
56. Nigeria's Magical Realism
57. Reflections on the Nigerian Election
58. Who's Afraid of Boko Haram?
59. Gulliver's Troubles: The Sad Decline of Nigeria's Foreign Policy
60. The Perils of 'Area Boy Diplomacy'
61. South Africa at 30: Home and Abroad
62. The End of the ANC's Single-Party Rule
63. Three Decades of Pax South Africana
64. Leviathan on the Limpopo: South Africa's Post-Apartheid Foreign Policy
65. South Africa Needs to Embrace an African Identity
66. Peter Fabricius's Civilising Mission
67. South Africa's Native Club Betrays its Public Intellectual Calling
Part V: Pax Africana: Africa's International Relations
68. The Golden Jubilee of Pax Africana
69. Africa's Nobel Peacemakers
70. Tunisia: From Jasmine Revolution to Nobel Peace Prize
71. Ennobling 'Doctor Miracle'
72. Confounding the Coming Anarchists
73. The Last Thing Congo Needs Is These Neo-colonial Remedies: A Response to Paul Collier
74. Rich Man's War, Poor Man's War: Liberia and Bosnia
75. Silencing the Guns in Africa
76. The Crisis of African Peacekeeping
77. 25 Years of Building Peace in Africa: A Personal Odyssey
78. Five Myths of the 2011 Libyan Intervention
79. Western Sahara: Sheikhs, Soldiers, and Sand
80. A Vision for Africa's Post-Ukraine Global Order
81. A Brief History of Africa-EU Relations
82. The Politics of Africa-EU Migration
83. King Lear Rambles about Black Migrants: A Response to RW Johnson
84. Macron's Africa Safari
85. France: The Myth of Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite
86. The US and Africa: Buhari's Sacrilegious Violation of Pax Africana
87. The Strange Case of Reuben Brigety
88. Uncle Sam's 'Dialogue of the Deaf' with Africa
89. Paternal Panda, Dangerous Dragon: Deconstructing Western
Perceptions of China in Africa
90. Putin's Mischief in Africa
91. From Global Apartheid to Global Village: Africa and the UN
92. The UN Summit of the Future: What's in it for Africa?
Part VI: Black Orpheus: Pan-African Culture and Film
93. FESTAC: A Cultural Celebration of Africa and its Diaspora
94. Nollywood as a Pan-African Cultural Phenomenon
95. Soyinka's Horseman: Who's Afraid of Elesin Oba?
96. Kalushi: Mahlangu's Moving Martyrdom
97. Africa and Hollywood: A Fatal Attraction
98. Triumph in Tinseltown: Global Africa's Night at the Oscars
99. Harry Belafonte: A Life of Music and Social Activism
100. Selma's Martin Luther King Has No Need of White Saviour
101. Black Panther as Black Therapy
102. James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk
103. Harriet Tubman
104. The Lady Sings the Blues
105. The Woman King
Part VII: Global Africa at Play: Sports and Politics
106. A Brief History of African Football
107. Can Africa Win the World Cup?
108. Did France or Africa Win the World Cup?
109. Super Eagles Crowned African Champions in Act of Poetic Justice
110. The Super Eagles as a Metaphor for Nigeria's Malaise
111. The Genius of Brazilian Football and New Zealand Rugby
112. Africa and its Diaspora Shine at the World Athletics Championships
113. The Tokyo Olympics: Then and Now
114. The Afrolympics
115. The Golden Age of West Indian Cricket
Part VII: African Travelogue: From Lagos to Laayoune
116. Lagos: Africa's Manic Megalopolis 439
117. Abuja: Nigeria's New Imperial Capital
118. Accra and Abidjan: The West African Wager
119. Johannesburg: Observing Apartheid's Funeral
120. Laayoune: Eyes, Spies, and Springs
Part IX: Multilateralism, Geo-Politics, and the World Beyond Africa
121. From Berlin to Bandung: A Tale of Two Conferences
122. 'Chimerica' Will Define the Future of Geo-Politics
123. When Two Elephants Fight: Africa, the Global South, and the New Non-Alignment
124. Africa's Place in the Emerging Global Order
125. The EU at 60: Paradise Lost and Found
126. The UN at 75: Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, and Adebayo Adedeji
127. Farewell to Arms? UN Peacekeeping at 75
128. UN Remains Toothless Despite Best Intentions to Reform
129. Groundhog Day: Gaza as a Mirror of Iraq and Afghanistan
130. Saddam's Bazaar
131. The G20: Sound and Fury in Hamburg
132. The World Economic Forum: A Self-Important Capitalists' Paradise
Part X: The Anglo-Saxons: Pax Americana and Pax Britannica
133. The American Condition: A Summer Sojourn
134. The Perils of Pax Americana: Chronicle of a Fiasco Foretold
135. Will the US Really Sanction Saudi Arabia?
136. Trump at the United Nations
137. Trump versus the WHO
138. Trump versus Biden: Farewell to All That?
139. Trump versus Biden: The Sequel
140. Kamala Harris: In the Shadow of Barack Obama
141. Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Donald Trump and Boris Johnson
142. Rhodes Was a Colossal Imperialist: A Response to Max Price
143. Britain and the EU: Delusions of Grandeur
144. The G8, Geldof, and Gleneagles: Much Ado about Nothing
145. Mad Cows and Racist Politicians
Notes
Index
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction: From the Black Atlantic to Global Africa
Part 1: The Black Atlantic: Legacies of Slavery and Imperialism
1. The Role of the Pan-African Intellectual
2. The Pan-African Pantheon: Slavery, Colonialism, and Reparations
3. Pan-Africanism: From Nkrumah to Nollywood
4. Germany's Forgotten Genocide in Namibia
5. Revisiting the Curse of Berlin
6. God Is Not an African
7. Nigeria and South Africa: The Heirs of Rhodes and Lugard
8. Support for Cecil Rhodes by Oxford's Biggar Beggars Belief
9. 'The Natives Are Getting Restless': Western Prophets of Afrophobia
10. Is Africa Hopeless? A Response to Richard Dowden
11. Dead Aid or Brain Dead? A Response to Dambisa Moyo
12. Stephen Ellis's Afrophobia
13. The Rich Tapestry of Afro-Caribbean British Life
14. Requiem for the Monuments Men
15. Revisiting the 2001 Durban Conference Against Racism
16. From Abuja to Durban: Africa's 30-Year Quest for Reparations
17. Unmasking Anglo-Saxon Anti-Reparationists
18. The Global Apartheid of Covid-19
19. Pan-African Lessons for Transforming Humanities Curricula
20. Haiti Hurricane Puts Republic of NGOs' Exploitation in Focus
Part II: Towers of Babel: The Challenges of Regionalism in Africa
21. African Unity at 60: Revisiting the 1963 Addis Ababa Conference
22. The African Union: From Durban to Addis Ababa
23. Not Yet Uhuru: The African Union at 20
24. Of Marabouts and Alchemy: The Kagame Report on AU Reform
25. Kagame versus Adedeji: Debating the African Free Trade Area
26. A Griot's Tale: ECOWAS at 40
27. West Africa's Brexit Moment Could Fuel Regional Turmoil
28. SADC Needs to Overcome Flaws to Benefit Subregion
29. The Spirit of Georgetown: Regionalism in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific
30. The Spirit of Bandung: Afro-Asian Co-operation in Global Politics
Part III: Madmen and Specialists: Politics and the Military in Africa
31. Africa at 50: Reversing the Curse of Berlin
32. Africa Is on the Move
33. The Return of Africa's Men on Horseback
34. West Africa's 'Men on Horseback' March onto the National Stage
35. Africa's Sick Presidents
36. Africa's Youth Are on the March Against the Old Order
37. Africa's Five Pillars
38. The Great Lakes of Crocodiles
39. Ending Africa's Thirty Years' War
40. Uganda at 50: Of Coups, Coffee, and Crude Oil
41. Kenya at 50: Not Yet Uhuru?
42. Always Something New out of Africa
43. On the Revolutions in Sudan and Algeria
Part IV: The Eagle and the Springbok: Nigeria and South Africa
44. Nigeria and South Africa: A Shakespearean Drama
45. Nigeria and South Africa Try to 'Reset' Relations
46. The Nigeria-South Africa Palaver
47. On the Xenophobic Attacks against Nigerian Citizens in South Africa
48. The Eagle and the Springbok: Nigeria and South Africa
49. Africa's Hobbled Hegemons
50. The Dangers of Academic Journalism: A Response to Mills Soko
51. Nigeria at 60: From Balewa to Buhari
52. Remembering Biafra
53. Nigeria: In the Burning Ashes
54. Opium for Sale: Buyer Beware!
55. Nigeria's Curious Election
56. Nigeria's Magical Realism
57. Reflections on the Nigerian Election
58. Who's Afraid of Boko Haram?
59. Gulliver's Troubles: The Sad Decline of Nigeria's Foreign Policy
60. The Perils of 'Area Boy Diplomacy'
61. South Africa at 30: Home and Abroad
62. The End of the ANC's Single-Party Rule
63. Three Decades of Pax South Africana
64. Leviathan on the Limpopo: South Africa's Post-Apartheid Foreign Policy
65. South Africa Needs to Embrace an African Identity
66. Peter Fabricius's Civilising Mission
67. South Africa's Native Club Betrays its Public Intellectual Calling
Part V: Pax Africana: Africa's International Relations
68. The Golden Jubilee of Pax Africana
69. Africa's Nobel Peacemakers
70. Tunisia: From Jasmine Revolution to Nobel Peace Prize
71. Ennobling 'Doctor Miracle'
72. Confounding the Coming Anarchists
73. The Last Thing Congo Needs Is These Neo-colonial Remedies: A Response to Paul Collier
74. Rich Man's War, Poor Man's War: Liberia and Bosnia
75. Silencing the Guns in Africa
76. The Crisis of African Peacekeeping
77. 25 Years of Building Peace in Africa: A Personal Odyssey
78. Five Myths of the 2011 Libyan Intervention
79. Western Sahara: Sheikhs, Soldiers, and Sand
80. A Vision for Africa's Post-Ukraine Global Order
81. A Brief History of Africa-EU Relations
82. The Politics of Africa-EU Migration
83. King Lear Rambles about Black Migrants: A Response to RW Johnson
84. Macron's Africa Safari
85. France: The Myth of Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite
86. The US and Africa: Buhari's Sacrilegious Violation of Pax Africana
87. The Strange Case of Reuben Brigety
88. Uncle Sam's 'Dialogue of the Deaf' with Africa
89. Paternal Panda, Dangerous Dragon: Deconstructing Western
Perceptions of China in Africa
90. Putin's Mischief in Africa
91. From Global Apartheid to Global Village: Africa and the UN
92. The UN Summit of the Future: What's in it for Africa?
Part VI: Black Orpheus: Pan-African Culture and Film
93. FESTAC: A Cultural Celebration of Africa and its Diaspora
94. Nollywood as a Pan-African Cultural Phenomenon
95. Soyinka's Horseman: Who's Afraid of Elesin Oba?
96. Kalushi: Mahlangu's Moving Martyrdom
97. Africa and Hollywood: A Fatal Attraction
98. Triumph in Tinseltown: Global Africa's Night at the Oscars
99. Harry Belafonte: A Life of Music and Social Activism
100. Selma's Martin Luther King Has No Need of White Saviour
101. Black Panther as Black Therapy
102. James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk
103. Harriet Tubman
104. The Lady Sings the Blues
105. The Woman King
Part VII: Global Africa at Play: Sports and Politics
106. A Brief History of African Football
107. Can Africa Win the World Cup?
108. Did France or Africa Win the World Cup?
109. Super Eagles Crowned African Champions in Act of Poetic Justice
110. The Super Eagles as a Metaphor for Nigeria's Malaise
111. The Genius of Brazilian Football and New Zealand Rugby
112. Africa and its Diaspora Shine at the World Athletics Championships
113. The Tokyo Olympics: Then and Now
114. The Afrolympics
115. The Golden Age of West Indian Cricket
Part VII: African Travelogue: From Lagos to Laayoune
116. Lagos: Africa's Manic Megalopolis 439
117. Abuja: Nigeria's New Imperial Capital
118. Accra and Abidjan: The West African Wager
119. Johannesburg: Observing Apartheid's Funeral
120. Laayoune: Eyes, Spies, and Springs
Part IX: Multilateralism, Geo-Politics, and the World Beyond Africa
121. From Berlin to Bandung: A Tale of Two Conferences
122. 'Chimerica' Will Define the Future of Geo-Politics
123. When Two Elephants Fight: Africa, the Global South, and the New Non-Alignment
124. Africa's Place in the Emerging Global Order
125. The EU at 60: Paradise Lost and Found
126. The UN at 75: Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, and Adebayo Adedeji
127. Farewell to Arms? UN Peacekeeping at 75
128. UN Remains Toothless Despite Best Intentions to Reform
129. Groundhog Day: Gaza as a Mirror of Iraq and Afghanistan
130. Saddam's Bazaar
131. The G20: Sound and Fury in Hamburg
132. The World Economic Forum: A Self-Important Capitalists' Paradise
Part X: The Anglo-Saxons: Pax Americana and Pax Britannica
133. The American Condition: A Summer Sojourn
134. The Perils of Pax Americana: Chronicle of a Fiasco Foretold
135. Will the US Really Sanction Saudi Arabia?
136. Trump at the United Nations
137. Trump versus the WHO
138. Trump versus Biden: Farewell to All That?
139. Trump versus Biden: The Sequel
140. Kamala Harris: In the Shadow of Barack Obama
141. Tweedledee and Tweedledum: Donald Trump and Boris Johnson
142. Rhodes Was a Colossal Imperialist: A Response to Max Price
143. Britain and the EU: Delusions of Grandeur
144. The G8, Geldof, and Gleneagles: Much Ado about Nothing
145. Mad Cows and Racist Politicians
Notes
Index
