bridging the gap between Mainland and the Islands

desire begins action: cheers

That day, at the entrance of Third Mainland Bridge, Martini was greeting cars with an electronic advertising inviting to party with its latest sparkling rosé wine. The ad was obviously not targeting those leaving right underneath in their raw houses covered with corrugated iron. It was rather for those going to work or leave on the Islands. In any case a fancy advertising.

sail made of rice bags

On both side, of the bridge, wooden boats with the bottom rugged with metal are parked. Their sails are made of rice bags. They are used by sand dredger who go in the middle of the lagoon away from the land to collect sand for construction.

A moment later Lagos' skyline appears along the Third Mainland bridge on the horizon.

Lagos skyline in the smoke

On the right side, in the direction of Lagos Island a large patch of water is used to transport and store wooden logs. On the shore a land atelier where men are cutting logs into pieces for further use by craftsmen and construction. The place is often full of smoke from refuse being burnt by the side of the water.

Not a very inviting place, but a fascinating one where clouds and smoke are merging.

where smoke and cloud are merging

After a few kilometers the junction to Yaba appears with its curving connections high above the ground

advertising at the Yaba junction

Finally, the Third Mainland Bridge is reaching Lagos Island and comes parallel to the Carter Brigde that links Lagos Island and Yaba and its train terminus. It is the second mainland bridge.

the carter bridge, or so it claims

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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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