Nigeria, the land of plenty

Apapa room service Apapa is hosting the container port of Lagos. Actually there is now a second one on Tincan Island. Many people fear the area. This is where thousands of trucks are coming to load or unload goods in the container port. Some say it is infested with robbers and criminals especially in the areas where trucks are lining up, motionless in the wait to proceed to the port. Thankfully the queue of trucks, which is several kilometers long is limited to a single lane of the two that the road has. This means that other vehicles can pass on the other lane. Police is enforcing the separation but sometimes the weather decides to change the course of things. The area of the port entrance is potholed "very well" and when the potholes are full of rain water navigation becomes much slower. Everyone painfully horns its way through the single free lane. One can stay for hours thus becoming an easy prey for robbers who can simply break a window and steal whatever they ca...

waiting for passengers Back to the mainland to have a feel of Surulere and Ebute Metta's streets. The place is pretty much a market where everything can be found or close to it. As a result, traffic is bad even on a Saturday afternoon and pedestrians have to fight their way through tiny street sides. Yellow is the color of local transportation from mid-sized buses to three wheels called kekemarua after the name of a governor who brought them to Lagos. driving lessons with old Kaefer On the mainland driving lessons are given in old Volkswagen Käfer. They are ancient and sure enough once you can drive them and park with them you are an accomplished car driver! one stop shopping: food, music, clothes and money a quiet side street where "nothing pass God" ladies' corner: beauty parlour and wine food market in evening light All markets can be spotted at the colorful sun umbrellas which protect as much from the sun as from the rai...

to and from the city in the air One advantage of elevated highways is that they leave some ground space available for other use. They can be build without too much disruption done to the environment they traverse or so it appears when one look at the aerial lanes carrying flows of vehicles to and away from the islands of Lagos.  soon in your garden a railway The covered space below the concrete highway body is actually put to good use for parking, markets protected from the rain and the sun, taxis... got it covered This is where one gets a feeling of being in a really large city like Lagos, Cairo or Tokyo. Driving on the upper ones is like flying on a carpet, if traffic allows, and provides a more global point of view to understand the structure of the city. il faut trouver la voie which floor please? looking for a book on the way home goats for sale hit the ball or hit the road

training for the best Saturday afternoon is a good time to explore some parts of the Mainland as traffic is much lighter than during the week. A perfect occasion to see what people do away from the rich islands of Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island. Well, kids play football, markets are packed and full of buzz like any other day, hawkers are also on the street. For some office people it is time for shopping. MACK moving containers in town Yaba's streets are divided in horizontal layers: ground floor is for shops and markets, pedestrians carrying all sorts of things, cars and even lorries. Then from the 1st floor onwards, habitations, offices, clothes drying opportunities, balconies and air-conditionners. keeping an eye on them Market streets are full of people and merchandise, usually grouped by theme, the area of generators, padlocks, etc... Abiola Bookshop trumpeted there are a few bookshops too. walking to seize a new opportunity everyd...

Lagos Island on the harbour: open with Heineken As in all cities located by the sea, the harbour plays an important part in its activity. Lagos is no exception. It actually has quite a large expanse in the lagoon to host container ships and oil tankers, some of them parked directly next wooden huts spreading on the shore like a dense brown low height vegetation. Sea, ship and clouds The presence of open sky full of clouds, the sheer size of the boats and the expanse of water makes the place a exciting one for dreamers among others. That does not come from its beauty, but rather from its size which makes one feels like a tiny ant in this industrial environment. the container dock Containers are laid on the water side like a colourful wall barring the view of what is happening behind.  a wall of containers Boats are also works of art of their own, each one with a particular shape designed to perform a specific function. Their decoration ...

improvised art market between the lagoon and the ocean Lagos is set on the lagoon that borders the Atlantic ocean. In places, the strip of land separating the lagoon from the ocean is just a few hundred meters wide. the ocean between Lagos and Cotonou The lagoon is linking "inland" Lagos and Cotonou, the capital city of neighbouring Benin distant of about 80km. In places it is shallow depending on the tide, but small motor boat can use it easily. It therefore offers a waterway protected from the strength of the ocean. This relative protection is ideal for fishermen's villages to spread on the water side. boat construction in progress and obviously motor boats are the natural transportation vehicles. boating on the lagoon

autumn only lasts a week in April Inequality is a fashionable conversation topic across the rich world where it is present in some variable degrees. Here in Lagos, it is obvious that the gap is huge between the rich Oga, owner of a mansion on Banana Island or Ikoyi, and the man looking after his gate. Ikoyi is in a course of modernisation. New condominiums are sprouting next to new hotels and office buildings. Redevelopment though rapid is often partial as some old worn-out colonial houses continue to stand. They have long ago been abandoned by their owners. Caretakers or squatters are occupying them not to leave the ground empty for fear someone might seize it and do something with it. Hence, meet my neighbors, leaving at the back of a dilapidated two story building which has long lost its windows but is still uninhabited. Trees are providing shadow on the surrounding of a cleared area that is used as fire place and sitting area. something's burning Often inher...

Lagos Island, the old business center Back to the 70's what is striking about Lagos Island is the amount of ageing concrete buildings worn out by the heat, the salt and the humidity. It was probably at its peak in the late 60s or 70s. The streets are generally one-way and narrow, full of bustle and traffic during the day. Life is everywhere on the street, even late at night. Government offices are still partly there. The Central Bank building towers it. Lagos Island is actually the link between Mainland, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. Freedom park, the old prison The old prison was turned into an event space called "freedom park" accessed from prison street. This is a popular hangout place for middle-class Nigerians and foreigners. It is hosting a monthly edition of Afropolitan Vibes, an evening when local bands come and play. This year, it hosted the Lagos Jazz Festival , which is displaying local bands playing all sorts of music with a possible jazzy ...

carnival friends Morning start Everything started around 10am on Saturday morning, buses brought young people dressed in feathers and strass. Every region or area had its own set of colors and design. We went to the smallest gathering point by the waterside in Ikoyi. Participants were getting in rows in order to get ready for the procession. The groups were composed of dancers and musicians. Some groups had substituted musicians with a truck loaded with speakers broadcasting club music. As the participants gathered, the music was getting deeper in minds and bodies which started to shake. The parking lot area soon transformed in a giant open-air disco.  A group in blue was the less disciplined of all and the more open to be photographed as they saw my camera. It was a rare moment of foolishness and intimacy where boys and girls would just strike fancy pauses and send kisses, play with their tongues in a happy sort of way. The Party had really started! ...