Nigeria, the land of plenty

Lagos Biennale, this way please Ebutte Metta, Apapa road, Saturday afternoon, 2PM. Residents go about their business as usual. Road-side shops are waiting for their customers, mamas sell fish, tomatoes, pepper, and so on. An empty bus breaks down in front of us. Its driver attempts to push it by himself but to no avail. None of the walkers-by offer assistance, actually they have got their own business to mind and the sight of a bus breaking down is nothing extraordinary. Considering that we are standing and not about to move, my driver decides to go and help push the vehicle on the side of the road. We are now able to restart our progression and we turn into the road leading to the railway compound which is closed by a large two-way gate. Vehicles have to alternate through one of the lane for security reason. The railway compound is a residential area abundantly provided with buildings that used to serve the railway industry back in the days. A firemen place, the headquarters of t...

waiting for passengers Back to the mainland to have a feel of Surulere and Ebute Metta's streets. The place is pretty much a market where everything can be found or close to it. As a result, traffic is bad even on a Saturday afternoon and pedestrians have to fight their way through tiny street sides. Yellow is the color of local transportation from mid-sized buses to three wheels called kekemarua after the name of a governor who brought them to Lagos. driving lessons with old Kaefer On the mainland driving lessons are given in old Volkswagen Käfer. They are ancient and sure enough once you can drive them and park with them you are an accomplished car driver! one stop shopping: food, music, clothes and money a quiet side street where "nothing pass God" ladies' corner: beauty parlour and wine food market in evening light All markets can be spotted at the colorful sun umbrellas which protect as much from the sun as from the rai...

to and from the city in the air One advantage of elevated highways is that they leave some ground space available for other use. They can be build without too much disruption done to the environment they traverse or so it appears when one look at the aerial lanes carrying flows of vehicles to and away from the islands of Lagos.  soon in your garden a railway The covered space below the concrete highway body is actually put to good use for parking, markets protected from the rain and the sun, taxis... got it covered This is where one gets a feeling of being in a really large city like Lagos, Cairo or Tokyo. Driving on the upper ones is like flying on a carpet, if traffic allows, and provides a more global point of view to understand the structure of the city. il faut trouver la voie which floor please? looking for a book on the way home goats for sale hit the ball or hit the road