Obafemi Awolowo

One of the three famous statues of the founder of modern Yoruba politics and economy, Obafemi Awolowo stands immortalised at the Allen Avenue Roundabout in Ikeja. The two other statues like this one are located in Ibadan and Ile Ife (inside the university named after him).

Inside MKO Abiola Home IV

The Abiola Graves 

These spots mark the burial places of MKO Abiola and his wife Kudirat. Kudirat was killed by assassins under the military government of Sani Abacha. They lie in front of the main house in the expansive compound. In keeping with Islamic injunctions, they are not overtly decorated but cannot be missed as one enters the compound. 

Sign for the Kudirat Abiola Corner in New York 

The signage above is a copy of that placed on New York's 2nd Avenue and 44th Street in front of the Nigerian Consulate. The corner was renamed after Kudirat in 1997 in honour of her life. The Nigerian military government fought hard to stop it (some people say Abacha spent almost a million dollars) but didn't succeed. In retaliation, the military government renamed the road in front of the American Embassy in Lagos after Louis Farrakhan Street, the controversial Nation of Islam leader. The street has since been renamed after Walter Carrington, a former US ambassador who was very outspoken in the fight to return the country to democratic rule.

Inside MKO Abiola home II

At the end of the passageway are portraits of Kudirat Abiola, MKO's wife. She was murdered by the military government's assassins in 1996. I remember hearing the news that she had been shot and was in emergency surgery on the radio as my friends and I were preparing for our school certificate exams. Later on the announcer said she had died due to wounds sustained in the cranium. It was highly uncertain times in Nigeria during the rule of the military. You always turned on the radio awaiting news of who had been shot or arrested. Public dissent was stifled and anyone could be the next to be invited "for discussions" at the office of the State Security Services. We lived in fear. 

The Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) was founded by her daughter Hafsat to keep alive the heroine's ideals. 

A biography of Ralph Bunche sits on one of the numerous bookshelves in the Abiola home. Less visible is one of Malcolm X and another report on state-sponsored violence in Nigeria. I believe they are not his as some of the titles were published after his death. 

Ikeja train station

The Ikeja terminal station of the Nigeria Railway Corporation. Rail services are expected to return to normal after many years in the doldrums. In March, newly elected President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned a new line to Abeokuta and rode on it for his campaign. Many of my generation who have never been on a train hope that it would bring a safer alternative to the congestion on our many bad roads.

Sunset

Shot this image of the sun setting over Ikeja.

Inside out

Picture taken from the inside looking out on Billingsway Road, Ikeja.

No hangar here!

This seems like installed art but this is exactly how I found this set up opposite my work place. It had been left there by some dump men.

Amusing isn't it? Now who's ready for the flight?

Passengers on Flight MS2/11 from Lagos to Cairo boarding at Gate Five!

Sheraton Hotel

Franchise five star hotel located at Maryland, Ikeja.

Lagos House of Assembly 2

House of Assembly

Welcome to the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa Ikeja. Hope you have a nice time around our lawmaking agency.

Adebola House

Located on Opebi Road, Ikeja, Adebola House is home to EssAy Photo Studios, one of the best run photography outlets in Lagos.

Contruction crane

A four-storey shopping centre under construction collapsed in Abuja last weekend. About seven people were reported to have died while many other workers were injured in the disaster. It was billed to become the largest shopping centre in the emerging federal capital. When I saw this crane on a construction site in Ikeja it reminded me of the crash.

What needless waste of lives.

Chick'n feedin'

Saw this cockrel at the park feeding on grass and could not resist taking a shot of it. I bet it would make a great delicacy on Chicken Republic's menu.

Public park

This is one of the new emerging public parks in Lagos. It is located opposite the Lagos State House Of Assembly. The government is beginning to put more emphasis on a green environment as it is erecting more green zones around the metropolis.

No social activities like parties are allowed in this one but one can get away with anti-social acts like sleeping.

Traffic control: LASTMA

This traffic officer under the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA scheme, graciously allows me to take a shot of him even though he turns away from my view. They have since come to epitomise sanity on Lagos roads as we like to say here; the fear of LASTMA is the beginning of wisdom.

Kudirat Abiola Memorial

Faces of the struggle

This is the Kudirat Abiola Memorial Cenotaph located at the 7UP Junction in Ikeja. Kudirat Abiola was a democracy activist who was murdered in 1996 during the shady past of Nigeria's military rule. She was married to MKO Abiola, the man who was denied the right of becoming Nigeria's president after winning what many consider to be the freest and fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria. The monument was commissioned in 2000 by the Lagos government.

Chicken Republic "super hero"

This fast food joint is on Opebi Road. The model in he picture is going to turn into what? Maybe super chicken!

Eko Hospital

This is one of the oldest privately run hospitals in Lagos. It was founded by three gentle men Kuku, Eneli and Obiora. It is located at Ikeja.

Lone pedestrian on Opebi Link Bridge

I caught this lady carrying shopping bags along the Opebi Link Bridge to Ikeja. Interestingly, I was on the back of a motorbike (okada) when I took the picture but didn't really think much about the image until I saw it again on the computer and it reminded me of William Wordsworth's The Solitary Reaper. "BEHOLD her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!"

Another image that runs through my mind is that of Will Smith in the movie I am legend. The image seems apocalyptic because of the smoke that rises in the background into the dark clouds above.

Or am I just imagining things?

Give us our due!

I saw these group of workers of the John Holt company protesting near my office yesterday. I learnt that the shipping division of the company was closed down and the staff laid off so the national union decided to picket the organisation's premises in order to press home their demands for reinstatement of their colleagues. I hope they get their wishes.

Today is June 12, a public holiday in Lagos to commemorate the freest and fairest elections ever held in Nigeria, June 12 1993, which was unfortunately annulled by the military junta then. Nigeria has since returned to civilian rule but there's still much left to be desired in the way our leaders rule.