Before we start, my name is Muhammed. I work with Samson on the storytelling team, and this dispatch is now mine. I will be the one in your inbox every month going forward, updating you about Archivi.ng’s work.

Nepo babies may be one of the internet’s favourite conversations today, but nothing about them is new. Decades ago, Nigerians called them yuppies, children of privilege. We found a 1989 Prime People story asking eight young Nigerians born into wealth what it felt like to work for their fathers.

Their responses offered a peek into the culture of privilege in a different generation, giving our audience a chance to reflect on what has changed or stayed the same. Many readers also pointed out familiar faces among the respondents, especially a young Abdulsamad Rabiu, currently the third-richest man in Africa.

Dives like this, into a fading social past, help us understand where we’re coming from and how we could be having better-informed conversations today. They validate our work, and the kind of support you could be providing to help sustain it. 

What Happened in May 2026

The corners of history we visited

• For World Press Freedom Day on May 3, we produced a social carousel revisiting the 1971 thoughts of eight Nigerian journalists about press freedom in the country.
• We also reproduced a 1975 discussion on why marriages were failing in Nigeria. Many of those interviewed blamed adultery, materialism and what they described as “modern women” for the rising trend of broken homes.
• After JAMB released the highest scores recorded in the 2026 UTME, we went into the archive and shared a throwback to the highest scores recorded between 1999 and 2007.
• One story that stood out above others for me was the 1965 prison break in Lagos that triggered a manhunt which stretched beyond Nigeria’s borders. When Mokomoko, one of the escapees, was eventually recaptured, he made the judge a promise: he would escape again within six months. You could make a Nollywood film out of this story.
• On Previously in Nigeria, Mariam looked into the rise of Nigerian DJs in the 1970s and the figures who shaped nightlife and entertainment during the period.
• Engagement with our daily artefacts dipped further this month. Our work reached just over 1.5 million impressions, drew more than 57,000 engagements, and we welcomed over 1,650 new followers.

The scanner took a short break

• We hit a brief setback with our scanner this month, after a technical issue interrupted our digitisation operation for about a week. 
• Even with that pause, we digitised over 9,000 new pages across publications including Classique, Banking and Finance Digest, Times International, Electoral Magazine and Herald.

What’s Next: June 2026

The Archivist YouTube is finally close to launching!

You may already have started seeing teasers across our platforms. We are excited to finally show you the next level of our video productions as we explore Nigerian history even more deeply. You need to secure a front-row seat by subscribing to The Archivist YouTube channel. We launch the first story in a few days!

I’m going to end this with a small request: I need five minutes of your time. We want to understand how you engage with Archivi.ng, what you use the archive for, and whether we are actually meeting your needs. Your feedback will help us serve you better.

Please fill out the form here.

See you on June 27.