The Panenka’s Paradox
A slightly different version of this article was first published by Olongo Africa. At the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium during the 2026 AFCON final, Morocco’s Brahim Díaz attempted something almost unheard of in the 68-year history of the Africa Cup of Nations: a Panenka penalty. Rather than diving early as the technique’s logic dictates, Senegal’s…
2025 AFCON: Football as Signifier
You may read my reflections on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations here. The first essay, “The Intimate Moments of Football Solidarity”, captures the intimacies we encounter on the pitch. My argument is that, beyond the politics and nationalism football often stages, the African Cup of Nations’ most powerful moments show the bonds between those…
Social Media Banter, Jollof Rice and Other AFCON Delicacies
According to one urban legend, any party without Jollof Rice is just a meeting, but on social media, it matters significantly whether that Jollof is of Nigerian or Ghanaian origins. It certainly does for some AFCON supporters at this year’s tournament whose vociferous performance of AFCON fandom has been a little more intense than in…
Brymo, Roland Barthes, and the Nigerian Author That is Not Dead
As of the second week of November in 2023, there was only one YouTube comment on a talk, “Brymo, Cultural Neo Traditionalism and Postcolonial Aesthetics” given by the Nigerian scholar Adeshina Afolayan. Posted on Emory Institute of African Studies’ official YouTube page, this comment illustrates the unrelenting thoughtlessness with which social media is used around…
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James Yékú 