the last day of 2016

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 but a bit heavy and plastic in touch with a wrapper sealed with a golden medal). As we were going through the market it became apparent that male fashion is distinctly split from female fashion geographically. When one is looking for something, one should first figure out which section of the market the item belongs to and then head there and try one's luck. Touts, looking for a tips from seller and buyer, were offering to shepherd customers to the likely destination of their choice.

13.30 - Pot carving workshop in Ikoyi

While the city was fairly empty, beaches were very busy with people willing to relax and have fun in the waves with their families and friends. The usual set-up of hawkers, 200 naira for trousers, a shirt or a t-shirt, 300 naira to have one's picture taken (as advertised on the pink t-shirt of the photographer), suyas packed in small aluminium boxes (to be distributed across the beach without customers needing to go to the suya stand and wait there) and obviously the usual touts from the bars set along the beach offering the "best location" to have a drink which, if one is not careful, can be expensive if one has forgotten to negotiate beforehand.

17.00 - busy time at Elegushi

In the evening, parties across town, Bar Beach with a Glo sponsored "count down". We landed in Spice Route, an indian flavoured restaurant/club, awash with whisky and Bollywood music, built around a giant Buddha overlooking the dance floor. It is arguably one the best place in Lagos, though not the preferred one for affluent Nigerians who like to park their Ferraris, Porsches, Rolls-Royces and other G-Wagons along Akin Adesola to go to SIP on the first floor of what used to be called Paris-Deli and which was recently rebranded ZenBar. Sip includes its own VIP lounge, separated from the rest of the club by a simple transparent glass wall, to make sure that VIPs can fuel the curiosity and the envy of ordinary folks, outside of the VIP aquarium. And I suppose that the aquarium also satisfies the appetite of the "big fish" to mark their status by sitting and sipping their drinks in the aquarium.

23.30 - dancing dinner at Spice Route

It is now time to wish Happy New Year for 2017!

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

Search This Blog