Nigeria, the land of plenty

secret dance from Q-Dance Back in the 1960s, Broad street in Lagos Island, a few meters away from Nigeria's Central Bank and the Lagos Stock Exchange, was a fine address. Fast forward to 2018, Broad street is a hip street for street parties, the latest of which is called Dance Gathering 2018. It happened along the walls of the former prison yard, now called Freedom Park which has been redeveloped into a leisure park in 2010. The area feels like it did not change much over the past 50 years, albeit the wrinkles of time, heat and humidity. For instance, the building of the National Archives that has been exposing archive files through an open roof for a number of years has only recently finally been emptied. The party started very quietly around 4pm. Like all parties or functions here, the opening time is the time for organisers to start organising (or at least getting to get things going) and by no means the beginning of the show. The street had been partitioned in several ...

self-appointed Playboy Friday night, 7.30PM, Lagos Island is buzzing with road-side lamp-lit by ambulant merchants, suya sellers and other food items. Pedestrians are dashing to their destination through cars, kekenapes, okadas, hawkers. For some it is time to get home, for others it is the beginning of party time. As we approach the City Hall building, which is now used for offices and to host functions, voices become louder, vehicles are queuing-up to climb-up the ramp leading up to the entrance hall of the building whose façade is adorned with squared-columns and glass protected by stylised irons grids. Cars are parked along the ramp and security staff is pressing car drivers to move on immediately after having disembarked their passengers. The main hall is hosting a wedding reception, luxuriously decorated. The music blares and a strong smell of fish is filling-up the whole place. City Hall rooftop view I am going to another function on the rooftop, but to do this...

16.30 - fun time at Elegushi Beach Harmattan is filling the air with thin particles of sand. Lagos skyline is blurred as if there was fog and sun at the same time. It is the last of day the year. Victoria Island and Ikoyi are asleep, most Lagosians are busy on the outskirt of the city to prepare the New Year celebrations, be it at Church or with their families. And the Young sleep in anticipation of the night to come. Lagos Island though is still alive, particularly the Balogun market which buzzes are usual, perhaps a little less because of no deliveries being made that day. Customers and sellers were still out and about to buy and trade goods of all sorts. 12.00 noon - gingery view at Balogun market I was looking for a hat, of the kind of Panamas. A year ago, I had got one chinese paper-made that looked nice at that time. This time, going through the market, it looked like the latest version of something similar to a Panama hat was everywhere the same (paper-made bu...

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...

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...

coming back from playing soccer After the busy visit of Balogun market on a week day, one wonders if Lagos Island can ever be a peaceful place. Well yes, on Sundays the streets are quiet, left to church goers, youth playing football on the asphalt or taking a walk, some food sellers offering to fill the stomachs of people with appetite for a large portion of amala, of rice or pounded yam. Only local residents are to be seen on a Sunday morning. Central Bank and Tinubu square Shops are closed, the traders filling up the island are not to be seen. It is the right time to take a walk to enjoy the streets largely empty of vehicles. The financial district is built next to Marina, with the impressive building of the central bank next to Tinubu Square which has a park with water animations closed to the ordinary people. Time also to see a few colonial buildings that constitute most of the history of Lagos, where the British established their administration with Lord Lugard. The fir...

hot sales Lagos urban area is said to count around 20 million inhabitants. 1 million additional everyday. People say Lagos is like a giant market and one of its epicenter is Lagos Island. Besides former colonial administrative buildings and the banks and insurance who built skyscrapers along the Marina, there is a large area devoted to trading and markets. The densest one is probably Balogun market which is located between the central mosque and Tinubu square. Three or four floors of shops, people, goods all so tightly packed that cars are not welcome and motorbikes have a hard time moving. pick what you need During the day 4 million people are coming to Lagos Island to do business. They will rent a space for an hour, half a day, a day or longer and trade. hen lost in the clothes section One can find pretty much everything, one needs only know where things are. But generally organised by specialized clusters. There is so much happening that one can only get a small glimps...

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

training for the best Saturday afternoon is a good time to explore some parts of the Mainland as traffic is much lighter than during the week. A perfect occasion to see what people do away from the rich islands of Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island. Well, kids play football, markets are packed and full of buzz like any other day, hawkers are also on the street. For some office people it is time for shopping. MACK moving containers in town Yaba's streets are divided in horizontal layers: ground floor is for shops and markets, pedestrians carrying all sorts of things, cars and even lorries. Then from the 1st floor onwards, habitations, offices, clothes drying opportunities, balconies and air-conditionners. keeping an eye on them Market streets are full of people and merchandise, usually grouped by theme, the area of generators, padlocks, etc... Abiola Bookshop trumpeted there are a few bookshops too. walking to seize a new opportunity everyd...

Lagos Island, the old business center Back to the 70's what is striking about Lagos Island is the amount of ageing concrete buildings worn out by the heat, the salt and the humidity. It was probably at its peak in the late 60s or 70s. The streets are generally one-way and narrow, full of bustle and traffic during the day. Life is everywhere on the street, even late at night. Government offices are still partly there. The Central Bank building towers it. Lagos Island is actually the link between Mainland, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. Freedom park, the old prison The old prison was turned into an event space called "freedom park" accessed from prison street. This is a popular hangout place for middle-class Nigerians and foreigners. It is hosting a monthly edition of Afropolitan Vibes, an evening when local bands come and play. This year, it hosted the Lagos Jazz Festival , which is displaying local bands playing all sorts of music with a possible jazzy ...

carnival friends Morning start Everything started around 10am on Saturday morning, buses brought young people dressed in feathers and strass. Every region or area had its own set of colors and design. We went to the smallest gathering point by the waterside in Ikoyi. Participants were getting in rows in order to get ready for the procession. The groups were composed of dancers and musicians. Some groups had substituted musicians with a truck loaded with speakers broadcasting club music. As the participants gathered, the music was getting deeper in minds and bodies which started to shake. The parking lot area soon transformed in a giant open-air disco.  A group in blue was the less disciplined of all and the more open to be photographed as they saw my camera. It was a rare moment of foolishness and intimacy where boys and girls would just strike fancy pauses and send kisses, play with their tongues in a happy sort of way. The Party had really started! ...