Nigeria, the land of plenty

coconut treats for sale Tarkwa Bay is a stretch of divinely fine sand at the exit of the lagoon into the ocean, it is shielded from the high sea by a seawall of huge stone blocks which provides to the beach goers a bit intimacy from the tankers entering the harbour of Lagos. a beach with a view Opposite the lagoon entrance is a vast construction work for the birth of a new city, Eko Atlantic: 250,000 people will live there on 9 million square meters. This will be a new center for finance and energy sectors, built on reclaimed land. It will be powered by its own power grid, independent of the rest of the country which produces about 20% of what Nigeria needs everyday. So far three towers have come up the ground. Eko Atlantic: one, two, three Well, back to the plastic strewn beach. it is a quiet getaway from the city center, a 15 minutes boat ride from Falomo bridge in Victoria Island. The sand stretch is lined up with reclining chairs of wood and cloth. A c...

a portrait of Suzanne Wenger in her last years Suzanne Wenger, an austrian artist, came to Nigeria in 1950 and decided to stay in Osogbo for the rest of her life as she became a yoruba high priest under the name of Adunni. She worked with her then boyfriend Ulli Beier to create concrete sculptures in the sacred grove of Osogbo , a wood on a hill traversed by a river. She contributed along the years to reinvigorate the local yoruba art scene in Osogbo. She adopted many children, some of which became famous like Nike . After a few years in Osogbo she contracted tuberculosis and was cured with the help of local medicine thanks to contacts with Yoruba priests. She was then initiated to Yoruba beliefs and became a \yoruba priestess. welcome to Suzanne and Ulli's world Her house in Osogbo has three levels. It is built of stone and concrete. Her bedroom was on the second floor, a simple room with a bed, a collection of fine artifacts and some now dusty books.  The hous...

market experience starts early The Yoruba city that became the city of Suzanne Wenger: Osogbo is about 200/250km north east from Lagos. It features an interesting mix of churches and mosques. The railway crosses the town. Osogbo central mosque The oldest part is hosting a market along several narrow streets, the remains of a palace, the grand mosque with a dome partly damaged as if a bomb had landed there. Grass grows on the edge of its roofs. It is built of stone the same way as the cathedral which looks much less impressive and all towards the sky.  the cathedral of all Saints A part of the market is dedicated to witchcraft. A lot of the houses could actually be very beautiful colonial buildings were they not in an advance stage of dilapidation. Their façade are reddish yellow as if the ground had slowly varnished them.  faded beauty