Taibat Lawanson, University of Lagos Human vulnerability has come to the fore with the coronavirus practically bringing the world to its knees. National and city governments are taking bold steps for mitigation and containment. In Nigeria, the federal government has announced some measures including restrictions of movement in Abuja, the federal capital and Lagos, the current epicentre of the virus. Prior to this, the Lagos state government has set in motion a series of activities including shutting down large markets, disinfection of public places, and restrictions on gatherings of more than 25 persons. What does this mean for a city…
Author: Pride Team
This week, we’ve curated our favourite fashion styled looks found on Instagram from the most stylish pages. Check them below. View this post on Instagram A post shared by StyleVitae (@stylevitae) on Apr 2, 2020 at 7:32am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by StyleVitae (@stylevitae) on Apr 1, 2020 at 9:08am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by StyleVitae (@stylevitae) on Mar 31, 2020 at 5:29am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Damilola (@edaowofashion) on Mar 12, 2020 at 9:23am PDT…
Traditional and Contemporary focuses on Ankara fabric spliced with contemporary tailoring. African fashion has taken a spike in creative designing over the years and we are ultra-excited to be documenting its progress one stylish picture at a time. Every Fashion Friday, we’ll be surfing through social media streets to find design inspirations for our Pride Woman (which is you, by the way). See our weekly style catalogue. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ankara Zone (@ankarazone) on Apr 2, 2020 at 8:14am PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by G L O R…
Rogers Orock, University of the Witwatersrand African jazz has lost another of its best-known icons. Emmanuel N’Djoké Dibango, popularly known as Manu Dibango, was, like Hugh Masekela who died last year, a global star of Afro-jazz and funk. The saxophonist Dibango leaves a huge legacy spanning more than 60 years of musical production that will continue to echo in global music. His brand of Afro-jazz drew enormously from makossa, a genre of popular music invented in the 1950s in Cameroon’s major economic and cultural centre, Douala. The music blended Afro-Cuban rumba and local musical forms such as assiko and ambasse…
Connor Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast Patrick Vallance, chief scientific adviser to the UK government, recently said that many groups are working on blood tests for COVID-19, adding: “That would tell us who has had it and now has antibodies, therefore won’t catch it again.” But is Vallance right? Once we have the antibodies, are we protected for life? To understand the prospects and pitfalls of relying on antibodies to protect us, it helps to understand a bit about our immune system, how it behaves during a coronavirus infection, and how it could protect us in the future. It is not…
Rhian Parker, University of Melbourne Every week in Australia, a woman is murdered by someone she knows. And it’s usually an intimate male partner or ex-partner. One in three women has suffered physical violence since the age of 15. In most cases (92% of the time) it’s by a man she knows. Added to this, one-quarter of Australian women have suffered emotional abuse from a current or former partner. This occurs when a partner seeks to gain psychological and emotional control of the woman by demeaning her, controlling her actions, being verbally abusive and intimidating her. Physical and emotional abuse…
Marina Joubert, Stellenbosch University False allegations and rumours about the coronavirus outbreak have been running riot on social media and in some mainstream media. Misinformation is rampant and conspiracy theories have added to the confusion. Examples include reports that the virus can kill a person in seconds, that Ghana has developed a successful vaccine and that HIV drugs have been used as a cure. There has even been a photo showing dozens of coronavirus victims lying dead in the streets of Wuhan in China. All of these claims have been shown to be false. The spread of rumours and plain…
It is often said that creativity is the bedrock of every endeavour. Our Woman Crush Wednesday, Mirabel Aleladia, displays this fact excellently in her field. Mirabel aka Emma is a Project Manager at Nigeria’s largest credit bureau CreditRegistry, she is also tasked with the responsibility of spearheading the company’s communications and public relations. At African Management Services Company, a joint project of The United Nations Development Program, International Finance Corporation and African Development Bank, she had the responsibility of expanding client portfolios and executing projects through strategic implementation of SME development programs. It is obvious from her work ethic that…
Godelinde Gertrude Perk, University of Oxford The pandemic of COVID-19 is often called “unprecedented” – and for many people cooped up in their homes in different countries, the experience is both unparalleled and challenging. But in late-medieval Europe, individuals self-isolated professionally. Some people – women particularly – permanently withdrew from society to live walled in, alone in a room attached to a church. Guides for, and texts written by, these female “anchorites” – as the women were known – from Britain and continental Europe give us descriptions of their way of living and recount their reflections. So what can these…
Wuraola Akande-Sholabi, University of Ibadan The spread of COVID-19 has been slow in Nigeria compared to other countries on the continent. Nevertheless, the federal government has taken steps in readiness for a more rapid outbreak. Schools have been closed, public gatherings banned by some state governments and most public workers are required to work from home. An international travel ban has also been imposed and the country has announced a lockdown of major cities. Nigeria’s health system will find a full onslaught of COVID-19 difficult to handle. The main reasons are its lack of sufficient isolation centres and testing kits.…