Nigeria, the land of plenty

main street of Idanre I danre is famous for its rocky hills popping out of the surrounding plain . The first inhabitants came there from Ile Ife and settled on the hills' plateau. Then in 1928, Christians left under pressure from the Traditionalists to settle outside of the hills in Alade. Later in 1933, some Traditionalists followed the Christians and built their houses at the foothill, which is now known as Idanre city. There are a few recent buildings and a lot of brazilian style houses that have weathered through the years without much maintenance. Like everywhere in Nigeria, roofs of corrugated iron are the norm, recognisable at the rusty colour they soon develop after a few rainy seasons. Red soil and rusty red roofs give the city its colour tones. The hills, visible from any corner of the recently created city, are like an intermediary between the earth and the sky. old brazilian-style house with modern extensions The city is stretching, between the hills, like a l...

the peak of Idanre Hills Idanre Hills are a potential touristic jewel, and a Unesco listed site. Located 25 kilometres south-west of Akure in Ondo State, it is an unusual rock formation rising a few hundred meters above the forested flatlands. The area covered by the hills is probably 20km by 20km. Initially, inhabitants settled on the hilltop plateau. There are still traces of the settlement: a school built in mud bricks at the end of the 19th century, a few huts with rusted corrugated iron roofs and the Owa's palace. Nowadays, people have migrated to the foothill to create the city that has swallowed up all the flat space available between the rocks. The migration happened in two steps. In 1928 newly converted Christians left the hilltop settlement to avoid harassment from and confrontation with the Traditionalists and settled in Idanre Alade, a village on the outskirt of the hills. The second part of the settlement moved to the foothill in 1933. It is the first time I see ...