Nigeria, the land of plenty

provisions for the soul The sky is ominously dark because of a distant storm. Fortunately, it does not rain heavily where we are. Only occasional rain drops fall. The air is sticky but unusually cool. The lagoon is peaceful. A few motorboats glide over the water while rare fishermen focus on their catch. Sunday morning is also the time for church goers to congregate and pray. Some gather in white costumes and board on large boats, accommodating 40 to 50 people, to go and pray in their church somewhere on the banks of the Lagoon. The streets of Badagry offer a similar experience. Devotees, clad in white robe, walk to their church and carry some goods on their head, presents to the church most certainly. Not everyone goes to church though, the market works at a slow speed, young men play football, some others smoke weed, except obviously in the O2 restaurant/ bush bar which explicitly mentions that consumption of indian hemp is forbidden. power generation boarding ...

"Democracy or Kleptocracy" by Jelili Atiku The end of a Saturday afternoon is a propitious time for art exhibition to take place, when people are done with their shopping and other work related obligations. Besides, for outdoor set-ups the sun paints everything in gold. A performance took place on the parking lot of Kia showroom on Akin Adesola in Victoria Island, where four artists in residence at the Arthouse foundation were presenting their works (Dipo Doherty, Tyna Adebowale, Olumide Onadipe and Jelili Atiku). The performance was created by Jelili Atiku on the theme of "Democracy or Kleptocracy". He was the center of the show, dressed as a woman in a beige linen dress with high-heel shoes, an afro wig and fake breasts. Before the show began, he was sitting on a white cube while a make-up lady painted his lips in deep red. He then, at the pace of a ritual, walked slowly from the center of the parking lot to take beige linen clothes printed with "Democra...

a new addition to the point of no return The point of no return in Badagry used to be materialised by two concrete obelisks, slightly inclined and pointed towards the sky . It conveyed, very simply, the sense of a gate towards the unknown, erected at the end of the sand track that separates the lagoon from the ocean. The two pillars were small compared to the slender neighbouring coconut trees planted along the beach. Tourism has always been a dream for Nigerian developers, especially coastal historical sites, that are fairly close to Lagos. Badagry with its pivotal role in the history of slavery is a perfect candidate. But so far, the place is not exactly a hotspot to attract tourists usually looking for nice beaches, comfortable accommodation and nice restaurants. Badagry rather feels like a place where something happened a long time ago, a place that has fallen into oblivion and been left to decay absent-mindedly. Could this be about to change? There are a numbe...

too many people can cause a boat to sink About half an hour drive away from Oyo town, there is a small settlement, called Ile-Oba Alaafin, that is dedicated to Oba the river Spirit. Nowadays, five families are living there. About a hundred people. The name of all inhabitants starts with Oba to mark their origin. The legend says that Oba and Osun were both married to Sango, the god of thunder and they had a dispute. Osun cut one ear to Oba in the process and Oba turned into a river, hence became the river Spirit. The village is set in a peaceful location away from the main road linking Oyo to Ogbomoso and Ilorin, a dreadful stretch full of lorries humming their way at variable speeds. Overtaking certainly kills on that road whose sides are littered with skeletons of burnt-down vehicles. The Champs Elysées of Ile Oba Alaafin It takes ten to fifteen minute over a sandy track, that traverses large fields punctuated by lonely trees, to reach the village by c...

The Wawu of Badagry While visiting Badagry, we discovered a city with a lot of heritage, with a particular focus on slave-trade about which three museums are covering. There are a lot for a town of the size of Badagry. The town a good number of buildings of brazilian influence. They were erected by returning slaves after the abolition of slavery. There are also a few colonial buildings such as the house that hosted the British administration and which is overlooking the lagoon. The city also counts several traditional compounds. There is the one of the Akran ,  the head of Badagry Kingdom who is referred to as Aholu. He is revered as the Ruler of Badagry. In a different area stands the compound of the Wawu of Badagr y.  The Wawu family, according to High Chief WAWU, descended from Ile-Ife and settled at Ouidah (Whydah) in Benin Republic. Later the Ifa oracle asked them to return through Gberefu to their present location in Badagry.   The Wawu is famous because h...