Architecture and Secular Magic in Postcolonial Africa

Power in the modern state is projected not only in “physics” or materiality but also in things beyond physics. The latter would be expected to be displayed in areas that appeal to aesthetic and, more broadly, human emotion, which includes the plastic arts and architecture. This chapter examines the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and Memorial Park (KNMMP) in Accra and the general architecture and landscape of Abuja. It demonstrates that African monumental architecture need not be imitative of Western architecture to resonate with Africans. In fact, the opposite obtains: African monumental architecture must be rooted in African tradition, if it is to be enchanting. While KNMMP mainly succeeds on the magical scale, Abuja falls somewhat short. Its landscape and government buildings align with a “high modernist” vision of a well-ordered, motor vehicle-friendly, manicured capital city, but do not project the ideals of a Nigeria reborn. So physically insulated and security-heavy is the Three Arms Zone, the seat of Nigerian state power, that citizen-centric social engagement is highly circumscribed. Abuja impresses as a symbol of the modern Nigerian state but hardly enchants, inasmuch as it was supposed to re-anchor Nigeria in a metaphysic of national unity and equal citizenship in the wake of the Biafra War.