Crossword Genius

African leader is circling a long time, twirling his weapon (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

assegai

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'his weapon' is the definition.
'assegai' can be an answer for 'weapon' (assegai is a kind of weapon). I am unsure of the 'his' bit.

'african leader is circling a long time twirling' is the wordplay.
'leader' says to take the initial letters.
'circling' indicates putting letters inside (circling can mean going around or containing).
'a long time' becomes 'ages' (I've seen this before).
'twirling' says the letters should be written in reverse.
The initial letter of 'african' is 'a'.
'is' placed around 'ages' is 'iagess'.
'iagess' in reverse letter order is 'ssegai'.
'a'+'ssegai'='ASSEGAI'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for assegai that I've seen before include "Spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africa" , "Spear used in southern Africa" , "spear made from wood" , "Wooden spear of southern Africa" , "A Zulu warrior's spear" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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