Nigeria, the land of plenty

Afropolitan style It rained gently the whole evening, not enough to discourage the crowd from gathering at Freedom Park to listen to an eclectic mix of nigerian singers and musicians. That was a blessing after seeing the sky tormented by distant lightnings, it was probably pouring a few kilometers away. Afropolitan Vibes is a monthly live music concert gathering of nigerian musicians and singers from all musical styles: Afro-beat/ hip hop/ pop and highlife. Adunni and Nefretiti The party has become very popular over the years, people are still coming en-masse despite the recent steep price increase of the entry tickets. The increase has helped improve the quality of sound as a result of more money being spent on the sound system. The show started with Bantu, 2 Nigerian - German brothers, who powered the evening. They invited Musiliu Haruna Ishola, famous for singing Apala music which originated in the 1930s as wake-up call during ramadan in yoruba land, a joyful call for bre...

Arese Amokpae in the role of Sandra This week is the week of Felabrations . Many music events are celebrating the memory of Fela Kuti across Lagos. Freedom Park has a series of Afro-beat concerts, same thing at the New Afrika Shrine . And this year a musical called Fela - arrest the music, written by Paul Ugbede, in reference to the life of Fela, in Nigeria, during which Fela was a strong critic of the short-comings of successive governments and generals. State coffers where used to fill private pockets, especially with bubbling oil resources being the main government income. Theft, corruption were the essential ways to get rich for the happy few who in the meantime ignored the poverty and the stagnation of the masses. The musical was played at Muson Centre, the classical musical institution of Lagos. It was musically directed by a Nigerian who graduated at the Muson center itself, Ayo Ajayi, therefore one of the first musical made in Nigeria. This was, in my view, a very good th...

keep walking Nigeria! Lagos, the city of 22 million people is adjusting to new economic conditions. Times are tough for most people who have to face the ever increasing inflation with their salary that has not been adjusted. The naira, that has depreciated by at least 70% against hard currencies, makes imported products much more expensive and sometimes missing from shop's shelves. Of course products 100% locally produced are not directly affected. Last but not least fuel prices went up earlier this year  in an attempt to cut subsidies, since then road has thinned considerably, more people "trek" (walk) hence the cynicism of Johnny Walker's advert (see above) discreetly plastered on a large building wall so that no-one can possibly miss it. Champagne is still there "Champagne has become a luxury" declared recently the organiser of the Lights Camera Africa!!! Film Festival to acknowledge the sponsor who had managed to provide some for the VIP pre-la...

Lagos photowalk job A gathering of photography amateurs, in 65 cities in the world, took place on Saturday 17th September. Lagos was one of them, the purpose of the walk was to take photographs around the theme of movement and adventure. People gathered early afternoon at Tafawa Balewa square (TBS) which looks like a stadium from the Munich Olympic Games the 1930's with metal eagles and standing horses guarding the building. someone had a party long time ago The highlight of the walk was the climbing of a nearby abandoned concrete tower of 25 floors, known as the Independence building on Cable street. The place was made accessible to the participants for the occasion. The climb was easy, letting us discover mostly empty floors with a few signs of occupations such are archives left there in the a wooden cubicle - waiting to be rediscovered or trashed sometime in the future. The lower floors had some graffitis colouring the otherwise grey concrete structure. The light was di...