Skip to main content

no hawkers allowed on kingsway

no hawking, no trading sign
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 and clever kid who has got it right with his education thanks to a pair of "intellectual looking" black-framed glasses. Message to the well-off parents driving past: save for your future (and his) with a retirement savings account
saving for the future with a retirement savings account
saving for the future
and then, on the other side of the street, a billboard that I have been hunting for a few weeks since I saw the ad on a bus. A political one, where APC, the opposition party is promising to defeat Boko Haram (a group emulating ISIS/Daech in the north east of Nigeria by committing all sorts of atrocities on local population) which officially caused the postponement of the presidential elections due to safety concerns. PDP, the party in power, has therefore also recently promised to defeat Boko Haram in less than 6 weeks with the help of the regional military task force.

APC: we will defeat Boko Haram
a promise from all sides
Whoever is successful in doing it will deserve credit for greatly contributing to the good of the future of Nigeria's youth.

In the meantime, let's discover the coolest place in Ikoyi

mandatory chillout
Located on Oyinkan Abayomi Drive (not to far from the Falomo bridge) this fine-sand clad place is perfect for a cold drink at an unbeatable price and also offer some very good suyas (spicy grilled meat sticks) and grilled croaker fish as well as catfish for those interested. The wind blows at sunset, extremely pleasantly.
I met there a regular, who is coming every evening for a couple of beers as it lays on its way back from the office. He got his 6 large Heinekens but did not seem drunk in any way. Was it thanks to his german origin?

and a somewhat unexpected open-air hairdresser salon

hairdresser with palm view
I would have loved to try, but the salon was unfortunately closed at the time of my visit.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Egbe festival in Oyo: celebrating the duality of the living and the spirits

Ladies in pink from the northern procession The Yoruba traditional festival of Egbe Alaso Osun celebrates the celestial community of humanity a nd marks the communion of the world of the living and the “spiritual realm” (the world of the Spirits). During the day, celebrations consists in processions coming from two compounds and going to the palace of Alaafin before returning where they originated. The night before until early morning hours, sacrifices and offerings of food, among other things, are made throughout the town to feed the Spirits. We participated to a procession from the compound o f Ile Adedeji. The procession came from the North towards the palace of the Alaafin to pay him homage and it was joined by another one coming from the South. Both converged at the roundabout in front of the palace walls. The processions where essentially composed of women. The colour code of the southern one was pink while the northern one was blue and brown. ladies in blue from ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

the Alaafin of Oyo: the traditional ruler of the Yoruba

the Alaafin of Oyo and a few wives From the origin of the Yorubas to the Alaafin Olodumare is the name of the Supreme being in Yoruba language. He created  the Universe and all divinities (Irunmole), to whom he had delegated His powers on the creation of the earth and the humanity. Obatala was the first divinity to be created and had the responsibility to complete the creation of the earth and to mold the humans. Obatala in turn created Oduduwa, who the first human being living on the earth and the progenitor of all Yorubas. Oduduwa had one son called Akanbi, who got several sons, the last of which, called Oranyan is the ancestor of the Alaafin of Oyo. The Alaafin of Oyo is the traditional ruler of all Yorubas as he is blood-related to Oduduwa. In contrast the Ooni of Ife is a priest in charge of serving Oduduwa by taking care of the left spiritual property.  He is therefore a spiritual ruler of the Yorubas and not blood-related to the Yoruba progenitor. the...
Post a Comment
Read more