This text is a part of FT Globetrotter’s information to Lagos
Don’t inform strangers the reality as a result of warning is foreign money right here. That is the primary lesson Lagos teaches you. If a random stranger asks who you’re and the place you’re from, it’s finest to manufacture the main points, in the event you should reply in any respect.
However Lagos additionally teaches you a counter-lesson: don’t take its prescriptions too critically. Not like most main cities, the place warning is likewise the primary instruction, Lagos invitations you to problem what you suppose you realize. Its fact is that there is no such thing as a singular fact. Its nature is kaleidoscopic, continuously shifting relying on who’s wanting, and from which angle.
So, regardless of this preliminary warning, I’ll share who I’m and the place I’m from in relation to Lagos — or quite, the place I’m not from. I’m not initially from Lekki, the Lagos neighbourhood I’m now encouraging you to go to. However it’s this very outsider perspective that enables me to understand Lekki in a approach that I hope will make my options compelling.
Let me first offer you some context. Lagos is a metropolis break up into two components: the mainland and the island. They’re usually handled as fully completely different worlds — typically even completely different planets — and the variations between them are actual. Geographically, the 2 are divided by the Lagos Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean. The island is coastal, flat and extremely urbanised, whereas the mainland is extra assorted, with inexperienced areas and fewer growth. Although the mainland is nearly 20 instances bigger than the island, the latter holds the financial energy — it’s town’s prosperous, commercially vibrant coronary heart, whereas the mainland is extra modest and fewer rich. But what really separates the island from the mainland isn’t geography or dimension, it’s one thing intangible: authenticity.
Authenticity, within the context of a metropolis, is a slippery idea. What one individual considers genuine could appear contrived to a different. At its core, although, authenticity implies a connection to an unique essence. On this sense, the mainland is profoundly genuine. It’s the place you may nonetheless catch glimpses of the west African area because it’s at all times been — natural, earthy, and deeply cultural. The mainland is alive with small companies which have operated the identical approach for generations, coexisting with factories, superstores, navy bases. It’s a spot of contrasts, a surrealist portray that one way or the other is smart. I do know it intimately as a result of I’m from the mainland. It formed me into the individual I’m at this time.
The island, in contrast, has a extra flamboyant and flashy air. Developed by Nigeria’s colonial masters to swimsuit their life, the relics of this previous have principally pale, however it nonetheless enjoys a sure privilege over the mainland, and an accompanying flavour of pretentiousness. This voguish environment is so ingrained within the island’s sense of self that it’s real in its personal approach. However it will be a stretch to say the island is genuine within the sense of a historic African life-style. Till Lekki.
Lekki is a part of the island however carries the authenticity of the mainland. Stretching for kilometres alongside the Lagos shoreline, Lekki constitutes a considerable portion of town’s land space and combines the island’s shiny life with the mainland’s freer, on a regular basis really feel. That is the attract of Lekki, and why you need to go to. It may be as extravagant as its neighbouring districts — Ikoyi and Victoria Island — however it additionally maintains the unpretentious character of the mainland.
After I say “Till Lekki”, as if Lekki occurred by probability, it’s no exaggeration. Main growth within the space started solely within the Eighties, with the development of the Lekki-Epe Expressway. Earlier than that, the Lekki Peninsula was house to the indigenous Awori individuals — farmers, fishermen and merchants who lived in concord with the land. I first visited Lekki as an adolescent within the mid-Nineties, when my father took me to see the plot the place we might construct our household house. I keep in mind standing on the grounds of the home the place I now keep after I go to, searching at an empty horizon. Had I not seen it myself, I’d discover it arduous to imagine that this reverberating, vibrant space was till pretty not too long ago a big stretch of undeveloped land.
The perfect place to really feel the distinctive vibe of Lekki is Fola Osibo Road, proper on the coronary heart of the realm. Be ready for Lagos-style buying, which requires persistence (and a very good evening’s sleep earlier than tackling the site visitors). However the effort is price it. Fola Osibo is house to every little thing from inexpensive Nigerian trend manufacturers like Iconola to life-style shops reminiscent of Ariába. Many retailers alongside this strip are housed in what had been as soon as residential buildings, including an intimate, typically nearly too private really feel to the buying expertise.
For a Zen escape after buying, go to the DEW Centre on Adebayo Doherty Road. This wellness sanctuary provides blissful massages, yoga lessons and a peaceable setting to loosen up in. The centre features a pretty café, an enthralling store and a flourishing backyard, making it the proper place to recharge.
Lekki has expanded a lot because the Eighties that it’s now divided into phases — Lekki 1, Lekki 2, and Lekki 3. Lekki Part 1 is house to the realm’s most sought-after spots and is without doubt one of the costliest components of Lagos. Lekki 2 is price a go to amongst different issues for its serene Lekki Conservation Centre. It immerses guests within the area’s various wildlife, and in the event you’re feeling adventurous, climb the cover walkway that gives gorgeous views of the wetlands and mangroves. Don’t neglect to greet the resident tortoise!
Additionally close by is Nike Art Gallery, west Africa’s largest artwork gallery, run by feminist icon Nike Davies-Okundaye. Often known as “Mama Nike”, she is a fascinating conversationalist, and in the event you’re fortunate, she could also be there to share her insights. Lekki Arts and Crafts Market is one other must-visit the place you’ll discover every little thing from jewelry to work to furnishings — I’ve found gorgeous antiques and gem stones there at discount costs.
In the event you’re keen to enterprise to Lekki’s outer edges, keep at La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort and go to the pristine fantastic thing about Eleko Seaside. Alternatively, return to Lekki 1 and take a look at 22b Lagos on Olawale Cole Onitiri Avenue. It’s an eclectic house internet hosting each personal and public occasions — which aren’t recurrently marketed, however an exhibition there’s definitely price your time.
In his satirical piece “How to Write About Africa”, Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina famously mocked the clichés usually utilized by western writers concerning the continent, together with the ever present picture of “the African sundown.” However I wish to reclaim that sundown — with out the clichés — as a result of it’s really spectacular, particularly when skilled from considered one of Lekki’s many waterfront bars, such because the famed Sailors Lounge on Admiralty Road. Get pleasure from stay music alongside your meal (strive the barbecue fish), sip on an Orijin (a bittersweet alcoholic beverage that ticks all of the “genuine” bins) and watch the sundown unfold in all its magnificent hues.
Alternatively, cease by Terraform restaurant on Wole Olateju Crescent, my favorite spot in Lekki. The gang right here consists of confident but laid-back locals — trendy, hard-working, hard-partying too, and effortlessly cool. The environment is concurrently hip and welcoming, completely reflecting Lekki: younger, evolving and unapologetically itself.
Minna Salami is a senior fellow and analysis chair at The New Institute. She is the writer of “Can Feminism Be African?” (HarperCollins) and the weblog MsAfropolitan.com
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