Dipo Faloyin, a Nigerian journalist, offers a compelling portrait of modern Africa in his book, Africa Is Not a Country. The work challenges harmful stereotypes, presenting a nuanced and comprehensive narrative. 

Faloyin critiques the monolithic view of Africa as a land of devastation and poverty, a perception rooted in the European colonization era marked by the Berlin Conference of 1884-85. During this conference, European powers divided Africa with little regard for its ethnic and linguistic diversity. 

Faloyin's book provides a brisk account of how African states navigated post-independence realities, mostly from the early 1960s onward. The book recounts painful episodes such as the brutal regimes of Somali dictator Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, who orchestrated a purge that killed an estimated 200,000 people, and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, whose rule inflicted severe suffering. 

Faloyin notes that authoritarian leaders often devastate their countries as they cling to power. Despite these dark histories, Faloyin paints a portrait of a bustling, diverse, and resilient Africa. The continent is home to a growing middle class and many thousands of active citizens demanding justice. 

Africa Is Not a Country is a well-written, occasionally humorous, and an engaging book, offering a fresh perspective on modern Africa.





The Prince and the Plunder: How Britain took one small boy 

and hundreds of treasures from Ethiopia



Andrew Heavens, London: The History Press, 2023, 341 pp.

In 1868, British troops invaded the mountainous empire of Ethiopia, storming the citadel of its monarch, Tewodros II. The king shot himself as his fortress fell. Crowns, robes and jewelry were seized by the British, along with sacred artefacts and manuscripts. Additionally, they captured his seven-year-old son, Prince Alamayu, bringing the boy back to England. 

Alamayu, whose name means "I saw the world," did indeed see it, but he never returned to his homeland and had an unhappy and short life. Queen Victoria took a liking to him, and he encountered notable British figures such as Darwin. After brief periods in India, Singapore, and Malaysia, he endured challenging times in British boarding schools and a miserable stint at Sandhurst military college. 

Officialdom had decided he should join the British army, which, as Mr. Heavens writes, had "invaded his country, killed his father, and blown his first home to pieces." He died of pneumonia at 18 and, at Queen Victoria's behest, was buried in the catacombs at Windsor. Though Alamayu's remains lie interred in the walls of the royal chapel alongside English monarchs, he symbolizes a crucial historical truth: the responsibility for the sins of empire extends to the highest levels of power. 

While museums like the British Museum face criticism for holding looted artifacts like the Elgin Marbles (parts of the Parthenon), the ultimate culprit in these and other acts of plunder was the colonial state.