"The Nigerian State is very temperamental." - Amarachi Iheke | Sweet Medicine

Amarachi Iheke is a doctoral researcher at Kings College London writing a dissertation on Azanian (South African) resistance anthems. This Saturday, I bring you a really powerful conversation I had with her that lasted four hours and meandered through many issues from standards of beauty, to corporal punishment, gerontocracy in Nigeria, the civil war, class and the Nigerian spirit world. It was my first recorded conversation in the series and exemplifies what I set out to do with these researchers and practitioners: get them to apply their academic expertise to everyday issues in our everyday Nigerian lives. The casual violence, the emotional repression, the cycles of harm and irresponsibility on one hand and everyday remedial acts of courage, storytelling and curiousity on the other hand.

03:04 Healing vs. Reconciliation

05:58 The Legacy of the Nigerian-Biafra War

12:00 Beauty Standards and the Burden of Appearance

17:53 Cultural Expressions and Radical Empathy

20:54 Courage and ‘Strength’ in Nigeria

36:59 The Cycle of Bullying and Power Dynamics

46:08 Biafra, the idea and symbol

50:29 Spirituality and Collective Responsibility

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