On August 30, 2025, contemporary off turning thirty-something, I attended my third block party.
The drill was the identical: I received sh*tfaced, danced with mates, and had a blast. The distinction this time? I felt previous. Too previous.
It started on the entrance. I picked up wristbands for myself and my mates, appeared round, and realized I’d been dropped in a Gen Z style parade.
Colourful tops with attention-grabbing artwork, saggy denims and large boots. Micro-minis, tight tops. Three-quarter denims shorts, armless crop tops, white socks and sneakers
Me? I used to be sporting a naked gray T-shirt, barely light, normal-sized blue denims and sneakers.
These had been the primary indicators that gnawed at my thoughts as I walked away from the ticketing sales space down the skinny, dimly-lit alleyway that led into the large subject inside Secret Backyard.
I used to be attending with 4 individuals, three of whom had been my mates and a plus-one. It ought to have been 5, however one in all us had already “left the block get together earlier than the block get together left him.”
Upon getting into the get together zone, the air greeted me like a misplaced lover, not a long-lost one, however one with sufficient like to nonetheless handle an embrace, albeit a side-hug.
My first port of name on the Alhaji-popping led events is all the time the identical. The Jameson stand.
I typically flash a trademark smile and ask for a double shot. As a mainland block get together veteran, my recommendation to you is NEVER ask for a single shot. All the time double.
With drink in hand, I waded into the group, music blaring at an ungodly quantity.
The women and boys had been locked in a name and response with the hypeman. As I meandered additional, I used to be confronted by gyrating our bodies with no care on the planet; ladies had been throwing their backsides at boys who gleefully accepted the rock. The vibe was reckless pleasure on a Saturday evening in Tinubu’s Nigeria.
However my thoughts wandered. Work. Relationships. Cash. They jostled for house in my head as if a deadline was looming. For a second, the get together felt heavy.
Nonetheless, anybody who is aware of me is aware of I’m by no means unhappy for lengthy. And simply as one who obtained renewed breath of life from a lover’s kiss, I used to be again up and energetic. Curious too, about how these kids had been capable of get together this tough in a rustic that didn’t assure and even contemplate their future.
So, I did what any sane journalist would do. Whipped out my telephone and commenced to badger these kids.
One man advised me, “Folks want distraction. If younger Nigerians maintain dwelling on the state of issues, we’ll fall into melancholy. Higher to spend our small, devaluing naira to remain blissful.”
He added, “Happiness is golden and is what everyone is searching for as a result of already the nation is tousled”
One other partygoer who works in advertising referred to as Nigeria a “stress cooker.”
All people desires to let off steam someway
His spouse chimed in: “Most individuals right here don’t survive on wage alone. Everybody hustles. These tickets aren’t outrageous. So to unwind after the week, it’s value it.”
Others echoed the identical. A cybersecurity analyst mentioned, “It’s been some time since my mates and I partied. Whatever the nation, we have to get pleasure from ourselves.”
A businesswoman was blunter: “The nation is simply too exhausting. We want one thing to chill our minds.”
Then got here a pointy curveball. I requested a younger lady why she was there.
“To shayo,” she mentioned.
“As a result of the nation is hard?” I pressed.
“No. I similar to to shayo.”
“What would you inform President Tinubu should you met him?”
She didn’t hesitate. “He ought to f**ok off.”
Seeking to finish on a well mannered be aware, I mentioned, “Okay, thanks very a lot. What’s your identify?”
Mistaken query.
“Shuo, you wan arrest me….which one be what’s your identify?” she queried
Me: Okay, I am so sorry.
One other partygoer I spoke with shrugged. “The nation is tough. What else can we do however have enjoyable?”
A younger woman I spoke with echoed comparable sentiments, “Younger Nigerians save as much as afford events and different raves like this not less than as soon as a month
President Tinubu must work on the economic system and make life simpler for everybody”
After which there have been the hustlers. A younger get together organiser, Alien, new to Lagos, advised me he throws the most important events in OAU.
“I’m right here to review the way it’s completed right here,” he mentioned. “However Lagos is dear. If you wish to survive, you cost extra. Double. Triple.”
By 2 a.m., I used to be drunk sufficient to cease overthinking and simply lose myself within the noise. However at the same time as I danced, one thought caught: these events are greater than escape. They’re remedy.
Alhaji Popping, the block get together’s ringmaster, agrees. “If I needed to describe the spirit of the block get together in a single phrase, I might say democracy,” he advised me. “It’s extra than simply music and drinks. It’s remedy.”
Six years in, the block get together has already produced 4 marriages. Is your husband/spouse ready for you at a block get together?
And the followers get it too. A fan as soon as advised him, “Power is your forex. You promote an expertise. It’s not in regards to the artists you guide.”
For Alhaji, that suggestions sums it up. “My major purpose is to make individuals blissful.”
Me? I felt previous. However possibly the trick to surviving Nigeria is easy. Neglect your age, order the double, and dance anyway.
