Nigeria, the land of plenty

chic students on a Sunday Ile Ife has a huge university campus, a lot of green with an interesting collection of architecturally sophisticated buildings from the 60s. It was created in 1962. A lot of creativity went into there design and they feature like modernity decaying in the middle of nature which even if unkempt remains beautiful. Today the university hosts several tens of thousands of students. when nature and concrete gracefully share the same space Large trees host thousands of large bats that go on errand for breakfast and dinner filling up the sky in  frightening dance in the air. Each faculty has a different design and was sponsored by a different donor. Concrete was a favorite of the time and through the sheer size of the buildings it must have meant that fortunes were spent in the construction. Alas maintenance is not the pass-time of Nigerian so many of the building are in need of a lifting. A-shaped We met a foreign lecturer who told us that professi...

welcome to Makoko Makoko is nested along the mainland of Yaba. It is build on the shallow waters of the lagoon. It is neighbouring another area where wood logs transported from forests in Oyo are being turned into construction wood. Some fire wood smoke permanently fills the sky and depending on the direction and strength of the wind is thickening the air with a strong smell as well. Circulation is by wooden boat exclusively, motors are pretty much impractical on the narrow waterways that separate the houses built on stilts. Especially so, because these water channels are full of boats transporting people and mini-shops, here a lady selling hot food, another one fruits, a third clothes, grocery, etc... During peak hour, boats are bumping gently into each other and crossings can require a bit of coordination to let everyone go its own way. doing business in traffic Kids are numerous, playing together on the tiny spaces above the water, on small wooden terraces, sometimes also ...

egungun collecting money in the leather bag Whispering palms is the name of a resort located on the lagoon between Lagos and Badagry. A sort of local fun place with rooms and sport facilities, music animations on week-ends. Locals congregate there on week-ends as the place of happening. As a matter of fact the nearest place is a village fairly simple, crossed by what is now a bumpy dirt track - it may have been a proper road in a distant past. As we crossed the village, on our way back, a masquerade was taking place. A crowd of men, armed with sticks or branches were surrounding an Egungun (Yoruba spirit) who, at the sound of the drums, was visiting each and every house to collect money offerings. It was said that those who did not want to give would be flogged as an encouragement to disburse something. That was a proper crowdfunding affair on a mandatory basis. the masquerade with sticks and drums The Egungun was covered by colorful clothes and a mask at the back of his hea...

bathing in Calabar Easter week-end in Nigeria is a 4 day weekend. Nigerians travel a lot to visit their families, especially in the mostly christian south. Despite fuel shortages, people travel, by car, by bus or by plane. The flight from Lagos to Calabar was at 7.40am with a number of other flights between 6.30 and 8am. I therefore arrived at 6.20am only to find a single queue to check-in for all the flights that was already filling up the complete hall. Nigerians can be very patient with their country and their leaders but some of them cannot stand queuing so they will use any sort of VIP shortcuts, for a fee, provided by helpful airport staff and create havoc at the check-in counter by flooding the area normally designed for a few passengers actually checking-in at the counter. The process snowballed rapidly, making any movement at the check-in counter impossible because of people and heavy suitcases occupying every square inch of the floor. On top of that there is no exit path ...

brand new royal carpet The King of the Yorubas lives in Ife, 200km north east of Lagos, not too far from Ibadan. He is known as the Ooni of Ife. He has a palace and has obviously a few houses in town. No one is supposed to know where he spends the night. The Ooni is in his early forties. He was recently elected following the passing on of the late Ooni of Ife - le roi est mort, vive le roi! The burial ceremony of the late Ooni, called Oro festival, fueled rumours because traditionally a man, associated to the Ooni and called Abobakun, is supposed to be buried with the Ooni to accompany him in the afterlife. That man, reportedly fled, as the late Ooni passed away, in the hope to escape his fate. This was a few weeks ago. As we visited Ife, some people told us the Abobakun had since died but maybe we did not understand it quite well? a beer brand celebrating the new Ooni of Ife However we got to understand that the Ooni occupies a prominent role in the Yoruba world and acts as ...

Keziah Jones and his famous hat Lagos is a city where music counts: bodies like to shake on the rhythm of percussions; churches are resonating with gospel; bars, clubs and pool parties rock at the sound of the latest tunes locally produced and heavily exported; and of course all the mobile phones serving to their owner their own selection through their earphones. But there is also the Musical Society of Nigeria ( MUSON ) which feature a school of music and is hosted in an old but well maintained building in Lagos Island, the MUSON center. african jam: Keziah Jones, Hammay Saho, Age Beeka, the Venus Bushfires, Nneka and the Muson ensemble The last week of February, MUSON produced a series of concert bringing together classical musicians playing strings, traditional percussions, chora players and a griot singer from Gambia - Hammay Saho-, a nigerian male soul singer - Age Beeka -, a nigeria female gospel singer - the Venus Bushfires - and two internationally acclaimed musicians ...

Epe fish market by the lagoon Epe (pronounced Ekpe in yoruba) is a small city located on the narrow stretch of water that separates the lagoon of Lagos from the one, further in the east, known as Lekki lagoon. It is built on the small hills that border the water. It is connected by a bridge to the Lekki peninsula. The town is famous for its fish market located on the water side. It is the place to buy fresh water fish, some of them still alive. They are kept in plastic buckets but also directly in the lagoon water in woven baskets. available once a year Many more is for sale such as crayfish, crocodile, turtle, monitor lizard, big snails.  Game meat is also available coming from the nearby forest of the Omo reserve. We saw two wild cats with white spotted black fur and a strong scent; As we left we saw antilope legs arriving to the stall. Some fishes are particular, one is sending electricity shocks when you touch it, another one was looking like a prehistoric fish with ...

the point of no return in Badagry Badagry lies on the sea just a few kilometers east from the border between Nigeria and Benin. It is a peaceful town with a past. It was one of the place where slave traders met with buyers. The slaves were quartered in a compound by the lagoon side in small stuffy rooms. The guide was saying 40 people were locked in a cell of roughly 10 to 15 square meters. No bathroom, no place to ease yourself, just the ground. The low ceiling was preventing a good aeration and most definitely the rise of heat. Slaves were usually captured by local tribes from warring neighbours: selling prisoners to Europeans was a good way to dispose of them for goods in exchange such as large umbrellas, guns, porcelain, etc... For those sold, they had to face the journey from their cell to the sea, at the Point of no Return, where they would board on ships to be ferried away into the unknown. one last sip before... First they had to cross the lagoon on a boat and then wa...

open house Pop Beach is like a jewel on the side of the ocean. It is not far from the center of Lagos, it takes 20 minutes away by boat from Victoria Island. A building with two rooms painted in rainbow colors serve as the dining and lounge areas. The eating room is open on both side leaving the breeze cool down the guests and opening on a wooden terrace with a nice rectangle pool and sun-beds with white cloth as screen which float with the air and beyond is the ocean. On top of the building is a roof terrace which can be enjoyed when the sun is not too hot for drinks or yoga. The place is carefully designed for soothing in a tasteful way. pop dining As we arrived and for a large part of the afternoon Bob Marley was filling the air. The owner and the few guests were spread in different corners, there was space to breathe. The decoration was colorful and tasteful. The place has two "chalets" design in the same spirit as the main building, except that they have a se...

demolition in progress Ikoyi was once the place where rich Nigerians were living as well as the British. It is still possible today to see one or two storey colonial houses surrounded by trees. These are now in poor shape and the pace of redevelopment is accelerating. At a time where oil is cheap and foreign currency can't be sent abroad easily, there has been an explosion of new constructions as a way to use the foreign cash available to some happy connected few. Some sites are for hotels, some are for offices and some are residential. Land being very expensive, buildings are gaining more floors and occupying a larger percentage of the ground surface. The usual victims of this rapid reshaping of Ikoyi are trees which are being cut remorselessly. demolition completed It is along those lines that I witness the scraping of the house next door. It was bulldozed in one night and rubbles were cleared in another 12 hours. The trees are still standing until redevelopment is start...