182 african appropriations
Following Luhmann’s line of thinking, posters exclusively devoted to
the figure of bin Laden could be interpreted as “reports” that aim at eluci-
dating his motives and background. This becomes particularly evident at
the text level. The text block “Bin Laden’s brief history in English,” for ex-
ample, which appears on several posters, gives not only biographical data
but also lists reasons for bin Laden’s struggle against the United States.
The pictorial representation, which takes up more space than the text, is
likewise intended to illuminate the motives behind bin Laden’s actions.
Religious symbols, such as the Koran, prayer beads, and the Kaaba (the
“holy cube” also known as “house of A llah” inside Islam’s most famous
mosque in Mecca), set the stage for bin Laden in the role of a God-fearing
Muslim (see figure 6.2). This is complemented perfectly by photographs
showing him raising his right index finger—a gesture symbolizing the
Islamic credo of monotheism. However, the focus is more often on bin
Laden’s ability to fight and his readiness for such fighting. On calendar
sheets with titles such as “Facts about Osama bin Laden,” he appears vari-
ously as a pilot flying a fighter jet, a soldier leveling an assault rifle, and a
fighter wearing a bandolier across his chest (see figure 6.3). As authentic
images of this type were not available, the publishers resorted to photo-
montages, mounting images of bin Laden’s head onto pictures of any fight-
ers whose bodies happened to be in a suitable position. Poster publisher
Chijioke Obi told me that he wanted to visualize bin Laden’s actual power,
and these montages were the only way to do it. He said everyone knew that
bin Laden had an arsenal of weapons at his command, but because there
were no pictures of it, they had no other recourse than photomontages.
W hen the war in Afghanistan sparked anti-American demonstrations
in northern Nigeria that escalated into miniature proxy wars, the gov-
ernment ordered a ban on the sale of the posters. Police in Lagos raided
publishing companies and print shops, confiscated entire editions, and
arrested individual Christian publishers, leveling the ludicrous accusa-
tion that the publishers were members of al-Qaeda and had disseminated
Islamist propaganda.^4 Hence, the only poster with a clear Christian mes-
sage, titled “The Global Christian Problem,” remained unpublished (see
figure 6.4). Emeka Frank, who designed the poster, told me that he did not
have it printed for fear that he, too, might be arrested. The hand-painted
artwork master shows bin Laden wearing Muslim clothes and holding the