This text is a part of FT Globetrotter’s information to Lagos
Lagos’s arteries are clogged from Monday to Friday. Employees commuting to and from work, largely from the mainland to the island, should set forth at daybreak and return, typically not till midnight. That is why Saturdays and Sundays are sometimes filled with social actions that make Lagos one of many bubbliest cities on the earth.
I’m a writer of a literary journal (thelagosreview.ng), a PR govt and biographer to the wealthy, so weekends provide me a chance to unwind, join and meet shoppers outdoors the frenetic workplace atmosphere, in addition to visiting artwork galleries and studios, and attending literary and cultural occasions.
My Saturdays start early and shut very late as a result of I’ve to suit every little thing in earlier than the town begins to wheeze once more from the emphysema that afflicts it from Monday.
I’m not massive on breakfasts, so my Saturday morning normally begins with black espresso and honey at residence. This routine adjustments if I’ve an early-morning enterprise appointment on Victoria Island, during which case breakfast takes place at The Orchid Bistro in Ikoyi. The café, which advertises itself as “serving breakfast all day”, is legendary for its full English. It’s nicely located proper within the coronary heart of Ikoyi however off the notoriously busy Awolowo Street. You’ll be able to dine inside or alfresco type as a result of in Lagos, it’s all the time summer season — besides when it rains.
Breakfast and assembly accomplished, it’s time to socialize and work, which normally means making the rounds of artwork galleries the place I can absorb ongoing or new exhibitions. I maintain a agency finger on the heartbeat of the Lagos arts ecosystem by discovering new artists and attending guide readings or film premieres. Relying on what’s displaying, I may go to the Rele, O’da, Tiwani or Nike artwork galleries. Nike, positioned in Lekki outdoors the Ikoyi/Victoria Island hub is a social nexus, as artists and artwork lovers from inside and out of doors the nation drop by normally for an opportunity to seize a selfie with the proprietor, Nike Okundaye, aka Mama Nike, who’s all the time elegantly turned out.
Rele Gallery, which began life on Army Road in Onikan, has moved to a extra tony location on Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, with giant grounds and sufficient house to host not simply artwork exhibitions but in addition guide readings. There may be all the time one thing happening. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this 12 months, it has change into probably the most celebrated galleries in Nigeria because of its annual Young Contemporaries programme, which has launched new artists and in addition spawned a brand new set of younger, upwardly cell collectors.
Lunch is usually a selection between Terra Kulture or Yellow Chilli in Victoria Island. It’s Yellow Chilli if I’ve a shopper who needs to debate enterprise, but when I’m alone, my default is Terra Kulture. Arrange by Bolanle Austen-Peters, a lawyer who has morphed right into a multi-hyphenated inventive powerhouse, Terra Kulture is a one-stop store. You might eat and have a drink right here, flick thru their bookstore, see an artwork exhibition after which watch a play.
At Terra Kulture, lunch for me is all the time jollof rice, dodo (fried plantain) and grilled fish washed down with my particular cocktail of Star lager and Fanta. For these with a palate for spicy meals, the ofada rice or peppered goat meat hits the spot. Lunch in Lagos or Nigeria as a complete is rarely a hurried affair. Often the primary meal of the day, it’s the time to eat and drink and chit-chat, and since it’s Terra Kulture you by no means know who may stroll in — an artist, a film star or a financial institution CEO — and what conversations may ensue.
Lunch accomplished, I would go to extra galleries, particularly if I’m excited by writing a assessment. However as soon as I drive out of Victoria Island, I’ll make a cease at Angels and Muse, an arts house based by my good pal, the author and globally acclaimed artist Victor Ehikhamenor, after which Jazzhole, the eternally hip and bohemian guide and music retailer on Awolowo Road. It’s the place Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage filmed her NPR tiny desk concert.
Within the Nineties when the web wasn’t a factor, Jazzhole was the place you went to order the newest novel by Toni Morrison or Salman Rushdie or Ben Okri. I’m eternally confounded by the truth that it has continued to thrive within the age of Amazon.
In any case, my visits lately usually are not for books however to purchase classic vinyl. Remoted and alone through the pandemic, I purchased a turntable largely as a result of it helped with mobility, as one wanted to rise up to alter the file over. Jazzhole is the place I am going to get my repair of Nineteen Seventies musical nostalgia — from Fela Kuti to Spyro Gyra, Betty Wright to Donna Summer time, and Prince Nico Mbarga to William Onyeabor. To start your treasure hunt, simply hunker down and pray to the gods of serendipity!
A great Saturday all the time ends with a drink. A enterprise assembly can have me restore to Ikoyi Club 1938, the place I’ve been a member since 2009 — we will chat over drinks and suya (contemporary savoury-beef jerky). A members-only membership since 1938, it provides exclusivity with a splash of snobbery. I like to have my enterprise conferences there as a result of my shoppers are normally members too. Another choice could be Nordic Hotel on Victoria Island, which has a beautiful poolside terrace that’s very best for eating or wining. There are additionally books to browse or learn whilst you wait on your visitor. And if my firm has a candy tooth, there’s Cactus restaurant on Ozumba Mbadiwe. You’ll be able to savour their desserts with the ocean breeze in your face.
If I’m alone, I’ll drive to Freedom Park since you are all the time positive to fulfill a pal or two who will invite you to their desk or be part of yours — in Lagos, it’s virtually taboo to drink alone. A former colonial jail, it was transformed right into a cultural hub by architect Theo Lawson.
On a superb night, you may stroll across the expansive grounds, work or chill within the lounge, catch a stage play, take pleasure in an artwork exhibition, sway and dance to a live performance, hearken to a poetry or guide studying or simply sit within the meals courtroom and imbibe. And for youthful and adventurous folks, the WAF Skatepark with its echoes of the Southbank in London, is an efficient place to spend your Saturday skateboarding and getting your adrenaline rush on.
Once I host a visiting overseas author or journalist, there’ll virtually all the time be a request to go to the New Afrika Shrine efficiency house on the mainland, which was constructed by Fela Kuti’s household in honour of his unique Afrika Shrine venue. If in luck, they may catch Fela’s sons — Seun if it’s the final Saturday of the month, or Femi on Thursdays and Sundays, if he isn’t away on tour.
On the Shrine, you may immerse your self in the true Afrobeat music with out that irksome “s”.
Toni Kan is an writer, journalist, PR govt and biographer, and has been hailed “Mayor of Lagos”
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