System Overload

I saw this heavily laden truck in Akure a couple of days back.

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Nativity scene

This nativity scene in front of the government house in Akure has become a big attraction for tourists. I stopped by to take this photo with my phone.

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Merry Christmas

My family at Christmas.

This is one of the largest Christmas gatherings we've had in my family in years. Almost everyone is around with their kids visiting my parents in the country.

So we decided to pose for this shot which I took with my phone.

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It's Christmas Eve

I shot this image of a family attending a Christmas carol service wearing the traditional Christmas hat. I love the vibrancy of the red colour.

Ewe Oye: Traditional Yoruba Chieftaincy Leaves

Leaves from this tree are used by the Yoruba for enthroning kings and chiefs. This tree on the Olumo Rock is said to be ever green, even during the harsh harmattan which is when I took this shot.

War time hideout

Egba war time hideout

Small caves inside the Olumo Rock where Egbas made their living place when the internecine war raged with the Oyo Empire in the 19th century.

Rock formation

One of the more interesting rock forms on the Olumo Rock. It lies in a tiny crevice where tourists are expected to climb through to the summit. Out of fear, many tourists opt to go through the stair cases and not  through the adventure of this spectacle.

Ancestral faces

Olumo ancestral faces

This statue is said to be that of one of the founders of Abeokuta town. It lies on top of the Olumo Rock.

Olumo Rock Custodians

Olumo custodians

These are the traditional keepers of the Olumo Rock and its history. They live in this house built on the rock where annual prayers and libations are made in appeasement of the gods of the land of Abeokuta and the whole of the human race.

Ogun River

The Ogun River makes its way through Abeokuta to the Atlantic

A view of the Ogun River from atop Olumo Rock. The rusted corrugated iron roofsof the town lie in the foreground

Olumo Rock

The famous Olumo Rock in Abeokuta is a tourist attraction. A refuge for the Egba people during the war with the Oyo Kingdom in the 19th century.

Abeokuta is an hour's drive from Lagos and is the capital of Ogun State, a name gotten from the river that runs through the capital to the Atlantic Ocean. From the summit of Olumo one can see the Ogun River through the fog as it snakes its way to the ocean.

Wonderkidz Football Tournament

Winning team Mayegun Pry School

 The Lekki Concession Company sponsored the Wonderkidz five-a-side tournament for public primary school kids in the Eti Osa local government area on Wednesday. It was an early Christmas for the kids as they played for honours and won funding and sport equipment for their schools. Many public schools in Lagos are underfunded and do not have adequate facilites to do sport.

Every goal scored, whether in professional or colts football, is worthy of celebration

The Experience Lagos

A thousand voices singing at the Experience

The Experience 5 held at the Tafawa Balewa Square last Friday. It is described as the biggest gospel music concert in the world as over 500,000 people sang into the night worshipping the Lord and praying for Nigeria as the country moves towards elections in 2011. American gospel stars Don Moen, Ron Kenoly, Israel Houghton, Phil Driscoll, Fred Hammond, Jamaican Chevelle Franklyn and Nigerian singers Sammie Okposo, Panam Percy Paul and Mike Aremu all led the huge crowd in worship.

American gospel singer Fred Hammond

Shouts of joy rent the night

A joyous atmosphere

Pineapple flourish

It's sweet pineapple season in this part of the world and the juicy fruit is being sold on every corner of Lagos at unusually low prices.

Poor preservation methods mean there's a glut in the market supply. So while it lasts, one can buy small pineapples for 50 naira (less than 30 cents US). In the off season it costs about 150 naira or more (1 dollar) .

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Roller skaters in Surulere

Roller skating is becoming increasingly popular among young people in Lagos. I shot this photo of kids riding alongside a three-wheeler Keke Marwa in Surulere with my Google Nexus One, the first time a shot from my phone has made it onto this site.

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Reclaiming public spaces

In the bid to reclaim the beauty of Lagos, this photo exhibition was mounted under the Ikoyi bridge. The outdoor exhibition is expected to draw attention to the beauty of the natural environment while also encouraging Lagosians to appreciate art.

I am friends with a couple of the photographers.

Lagos' Need for More Space

Lagos is billed to become Africa's largest city by 2015 when it's population will overcome that of Cairo's. I was in Cairo last year and I know how big and organised that city looks compared to Lagos. Its streets are wider and cleaner even with the amount of people that traverse it daily.

So if one is not careful, this image of a cart pusher struggling for right of way with a biker and a car along the supposed highbrow Awolowo Road, Ikoyi will only worsen causing untold hardship to road users and businesses.  

And eventually, there'll be more people standing in the buses just so that they can get to their destinations.

More Photos From EMUfest at OAU

Beautiful Nubia lifted shoulder high by students at the end of his performance

Yinka Davies and fan

Ex-Ife Akin 

Singer Femi and colleague

Reveller

R- Second year English Studies student Folasade

Dancing time

OAU student union leader Frederick 'FJ' Joel

Awolowo Hall chair Olanrewaju 'Google' Olamide

BN and Google

Another Yinka Davies fan

Good times

And yet more Yinka Davies fans

Rockstar