keep walking Nigeria!

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-launch night. Now, the mood is by necessity tuned to "cheap is beautiful". This could be seen by the way the opening movie, Green White Green (after the colours of the flag of Nigeria) had been crafted telling the story of 4 teenagers, from the 3 main tribes of Nigeria, who decide to shoot a movie about the history of their country with very basic means, but enough to make their parents proud of their children and reflecting on the beauty to being one united country (tribalism is still rife in Nigeria, a good example is the way people voted at State level for the last presidential election with scores above 70% or 80% for the party of the candidate belonging to the tribe of the particular State).

talent beware, you are being hunted

However despite hard times there are still business opportunities, especially then when most businesses are under stress. And some hopeful Nigerians do even go as far as scouting for talents on the city walls!
Independence Day, the 1st of October, was celebrated with the utmost discretion. Well let's be fair, the Federal Government probably has better ways to spend its budget than by organising street parties but nonetheless even something simple could have contributed to the sense of belonging to ONE country.
Talking to the owner of the largest collection of Nigerian art, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon, a Yoruba, I was asking if his foundation, OYASAF, had a particular focus in building his collection. He replied that its goal was rather encyclopedic, to collect art from all parts of Nigeria and let visitors (he plans to open a Museum in 2018 in Lekki to host a part of his extensive collection) decide by themselves.
The future is not quite bright yet but Nigerians have the ability to endure and overcome tough times. Family, religion, various networks are tools to fend off those difficult periods: as long as there is hope you can be kept alive. My driver was one day equating seniority of a person to the degree of "sufferment" of that person. So people might be on a forced course to become more senior right now!

hope is there

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

no hawkers allowed on kingsway

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 a

The mysterious stones images of Esie

turned into Stones Chief J. Agbo Ooye had been waiting in the shade of a large tree, in front of the National Museum of Esie, dressed in ceremonial costume with a velvet hat incrusted with crystal beads sown in the shape of his title and his name. He was sitting next to his wife on a bench, expecting our arrival. His wife, he would tell us later, was his best friend and she was actually demonstrating it by guiding his frail body from one place to another and guiding his hand when it came to sign autographs of his books. Chief Agbo Ooye is the author of two booklets on the Esie Stones. The first one, called A Personal Account of the Esie Stones is giving an overview of the differences between the scientific and the traditional interpretation of the Esie Stones. The second one is called the History of Esie and gives a brief account of Esie's history from the early settlement of Yorubas in various groups (Esie, Oro, Eku Apa, Igbonla, Edidi, Igbesi, etc...) to the present day. Thos

Nigeria, the land of plenty

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