180 african appropriations
northern Nigerian towns manifested a certain degree of “facialization”
(Macho 1996: 26). Hence, when bin Laden merchandise began to appear
shortly after September 11, its buyers and consumers were already expert
users of images for communicative purposes, and bin Laden’s face was
used just as easily as portraits of sheikhs, politicians, and video movie
stars (see figure 6.1).
BIN LADEN AS POSTER BOYSoon after 9/11, posters showing pictures of the attack and its suspected
mastermind were offered by mobile vendors all over Nigeria. Such prints,
called “calendars” or “almanacs” in Nigeria, can best be characterized
as single-sheet tabloids targeting the common people.^2 Delivering sen-
sational and curious news from all over the world, they were published
mainly by Christian Igbo in the southern Nigerian city of Lagos (Krings
2004b). W hen compiling the posters, the publishers appropriated images
and text fragments from international magazines and internet sources.
figure 6.1
Portraits of Osama bin Laden on small media, Kano 2002–2003. Author’s
collection.