Happy anything!

Ibrahim wishing "Happy Valentine's Day" / "Vote for me"

Proximity building

The most awaited Valentine's Day happened yesterday. Lovers had good reasons to cheer about it. There would be celebration in the course of the day. Actually one politician thought he could make use of the opportunity to wish everyone "Happy V Day / Vote for me" which is an interesting way to hijack the event.

Is he speaking to my wife? Then I shall be worried and will definitely not vote for him!

Is he bringing Valentine's day on par with Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Easter, Eïd etc…? In any case this was a colorful and smiling message from an expert in circumstantial greetings (he has already ventured into happy neighbor, happy new Year, Happy Xmas and is perhaps busy preparing happy Easter in case the elections are postponed again?).

That was a good way to stand out!

Serious Valentine's Gift

Last Friday, with some colleagues a discussion broke out on what to offer for Valentine's. I suggested flowers. Forget it, they said unanimously, if we do that, our wives will beat us with the bunch of flowers. Nigerian women need something more serious like a smartphone, a dinner in a nice restaurant, etc…

In any case avoid roses with thorns ;-)

Tips for a long-distance Valentine's day celebration

For those who do not belong to the blessed ones with their partner around the corner, or the ones having multiple partners, long-distance celebration tips can come very handy. Internations put a few ideas on how it could be done.

JO's green face continuing moving

Continuing moving

Troubling poster of the current president in black and green. Green is certainly on of the colors of Nigeria. Is that supposed to make him look like a venerable uncle or perhaps like Lionel Ritchie?

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The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the

no hawkers allowed on kingsway

no hawking Sign of hawkers this was my discovery of the week in the urban signage section. I had to think hard what the "damaged hat" was all about? Until I saw a couple of people walking with large flat baskets on their heads loaded with small portions of peanuts wrapped-up in plastic bags right by the signage. I then understood that they were not supposed to be there if the signage is of any relevance. Exactly why is another matter. Perhaps for safety reasons as in the past people hijacking cars could have been mistaken with the hawkers selling wares in the traffic. Today Kingsway, the large avenue crossing Ikoyi and coming straight out of Victoria Island through the Falomo bridge, is fairly safe. Its 2*2 lanes are often packed with slow traffic and therefore a good place for hawkers to do business. Youth's future on Kingsway Two billboards attracted my attention along Alfred Rewane avenue (the new name for Kingsway). One was a representation of a young a

The mysterious stones images of Esie

turned into Stones Chief J. Agbo Ooye had been waiting in the shade of a large tree, in front of the National Museum of Esie, dressed in ceremonial costume with a velvet hat incrusted with crystal beads sown in the shape of his title and his name. He was sitting next to his wife on a bench, expecting our arrival. His wife, he would tell us later, was his best friend and she was actually demonstrating it by guiding his frail body from one place to another and guiding his hand when it came to sign autographs of his books. Chief Agbo Ooye is the author of two booklets on the Esie Stones. The first one, called A Personal Account of the Esie Stones is giving an overview of the differences between the scientific and the traditional interpretation of the Esie Stones. The second one is called the History of Esie and gives a brief account of Esie's history from the early settlement of Yorubas in various groups (Esie, Oro, Eku Apa, Igbonla, Edidi, Igbesi, etc...) to the present day. Thos

Nigeria, the land of plenty

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