Time was that the only noticeable connection between Ireland and Africa was that Kofi Annan’s head looked like a pint of Guinness. Today, however, as I mentioned in my previous column, it turns out that Ireland’s newly globalized patron saint, St Patrick, is now also the presiding demi-deity of Nigeria too. How come?
Although Ireland famously never had any colonial empire, being a long-term white colony of London itself, it did once send many Catholic missionaries out across the world, including to Nigeria, where as a direct consequence around 15% of the native black population today genuflect towards Rome. (more…)


