This text is a part of FT Globetrotter’s information to Lagos
Lagos’s arteries are clogged from Monday to Friday. Staff commuting to and from work, principally from the mainland to the island, should set forth at daybreak and return, generally not till midnight. This is the reason Saturdays and Sundays are sometimes full of social actions that make Lagos one of many bubbliest cities on the planet.
I’m a writer of a literary journal (thelagosreview.ng), a PR govt and biographer to the wealthy, so weekends provide me a possibility to unwind, join and meet shoppers exterior 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 thing in earlier than the town begins to wheeze once more from the emphysema that afflicts it from Monday.
I’m not large on breakfasts, so my Saturday morning normally begins with black espresso and honey at residence. This routine modifications if I’ve an early-morning enterprise appointment on Victoria Island, wherein case breakfast takes place at The Orchid Bistro in Ikoyi. The café, which advertises itself as “serving breakfast all day”, is known for its full English. It’s properly located proper within the coronary heart of Ikoyi however off the notoriously busy Awolowo Street. You’ll be able to dine inside or alfresco fashion as a result of in Lagos, it’s all the time summer time — besides when it rains.
Breakfast and assembly finished, it’s time to socialize and work, which normally means making the rounds of artwork galleries the place I can soak up ongoing or new exhibitions. I maintain a agency finger on the heartbeat of the Lagos arts ecosystem by discovering new artists and attending e book readings or film premieres. Relying on what’s displaying, I might go to the Rele, O’da, Tiwani or Nike artwork galleries. Nike, positioned in Lekki exterior the Ikoyi/Victoria Island hub is a social nexus, as artists and artwork lovers from inside and outdoors 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 Avenue in Onikan, has moved to a extra tony location on Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, with giant grounds and sufficient area to host not simply artwork exhibitions but additionally e book readings. There’s all the time one thing happening. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this yr, it has develop into one of the vital celebrated galleries in Nigeria due to its annual Young Contemporaries programme, which has launched new artists and in addition spawned a brand new set of younger, upwardly cellular collectors.
Lunch is commonly a alternative between Terra Kulture or Yellow Chilli in Victoria Island. It’s Yellow Chilli if I’ve a shopper who desires 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 would eat and have a drink right here, flick through 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 an entire isn’t a hurried affair. Normally the principle 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 might stroll in — an artist, a film star or a financial institution CEO — and what conversations might ensue.
Lunch finished, I would go to extra galleries, particularly if I’m fascinated by writing a overview. However as soon as I drive out of Victoria Island, I’ll make a cease at Angels and Muse, an arts area based by my good good friend, the author and globally acclaimed artist Victor Ehikhamenor, after which Jazzhole, the eternally hip and bohemian e book and music retailer on Awolowo Road. It’s the place Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage filmed her NPR tiny desk concert.
Within the Nineteen 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 today usually are not for books however to purchase classic vinyl. Remoted and alone in the course of the pandemic, I purchased a turntable principally as a result of it helped with mobility, as one wanted to rise up to vary the report 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 season, and Prince Nico Mbarga to William Onyeabor. To start your treasure hunt, simply hunker down and pray to the gods of serendipity!
An excellent Saturday all the time ends with a drink. A enterprise assembly may have me restore to Ikoyi Club 1938, the place I’ve been a member since 2009 — we will chat over drinks and suya (recent savoury-beef jerky). A members-only membership since 1938, it affords exclusivity with a splash of snobbery. I like to have my enterprise conferences there as a result of my shoppers are normally members too. An alternative choice could be Nordic Hotel on Victoria Island, which has a beautiful poolside terrace that’s ideally suited for eating or wining. There are additionally books to browse or learn when 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 certain to satisfy a good friend 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 night, you possibly can 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, take heed to a poetry or e book 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 effective place to spend your Saturday skateboarding and getting your adrenaline rush on.
After 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 area on the mainland, which was constructed by Fela Kuti’s household in honour of his unique Afrika Shrine venue. If in luck, they are going to catch Fela’s sons — Seun if it’s the final Saturday of the month, or Femi on Thursdays and Sundays, if he’s not away on tour.
On the Shrine, you possibly can immerse your self in the true Afrobeat music with out that irksome “s”.
Toni Kan is an creator, journalist, PR govt and biographer, and has been hailed “Mayor of Lagos”
Inform us about your excellent Saturday in Lagos within the feedback beneath. And observe FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
Cities with the FT
FT Globetrotter, our insider guides to among the world’s biggest cities, affords skilled recommendation on consuming and consuming, train, artwork and tradition — and far more
Discover us in Lagos, Madrid, Copenhagen, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Rome, Frankfurt, Singapore, Miami, Toronto, Melbourne, Zürich, Milan, Vancouver, Edinburgh and Venice
