Ibadan road: in God we trucks

a nearly fearless driver

Ibadan is a large city, third largest in Nigeria probably, with 3 or 4 million inhabitants. Its growth is fueled by the vicinity of Lagos. It lies about 100km north east of Lagos.
The road linking Lagos and Ibadan looks like a run-down motorway in the US, 2 by 2 lanes with a concrete divide that cannot be crossed.

powerful and well guarded

The road is famous for its mega-churches along the way that can cause huge traffic disruption when a celebration is on due to the cheer size of the faithful who congregate their. These churches look like warehouses able to contain thousands of people. The largest one being built will be a hall, 2km long (only).
Muslims are in minority in the south of the country.

islamic city by the roadside

Then, there is a number of companies that are established a long the way resulting in a concentration of trucks parked along the road, not to mention all the ones that are just abandoned there, rusting away slowly.

just put it there, we might need it one day

toilet factory: "shit business is serious business"

All told, travel time between Ibadan and Lagos is fairly unpredictable ranging from 2 to 8 hours according to witnesses (some of them unfortunate).

biscuits for sale

As we drove towards Ibadan, the trafic was dense in places providing an opportunity for hawkers to earn a few nairas selling plantain chips, nuts, drinks and plenty of other things.

muddy parking

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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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