Afropolitan Vibes: Ebola Can't Stop the Music

Weird MC performing Ijoya

Even as Lagosians have become more cautious of handshakes and hugs in the days after the Ebola virus disease began claiming lives in the city, many citizens still gather in public to have fun and enjoy live music.

For the patrons and followers of the monthly live music Afropolitan Vibes at Freedom Park, Friday August 15 would not be forgotten too quickly.

When veteran rapper Weird MC took to the stage to perform her legendary hit songs Allen Avenue and Ijoya, all they could do was applaud as she shared fist bumps all around with the audience.

“Forget Ebola,” she said, ‘make we chop knuckle” as she greeted the fans before getting them in the groove and making sure they understood that she still “own[ed] the dance.”

While we danced, it was easy to forget about all the bad news and just revel in the moment. After all, the spirit of Lagos cannot be cowed by any “gaddem” disease.

Other performers on the night were Show Dem Camp, Isedale and founder of the Afropolitan Vibes, Ade Bantu and crew.

 

Next base jare.

Ade Bantu and crew

Travel, Nigeria style

 

Hiking on the back of trucks is a common means of travel for many poor people who come to Lagos in search of the good life. The bulk of them come from the North and become porters, fetchers of water and other menial jobs.

They too are the earth's.

The Passion of Christ

Captured this Passion of Christ procession on Good Friday along Agidingbi Road as I drove out in the morning. I'd always seen scenes like this on TV and in the papers but it was my first live view. So I parked by the kerb and shot a few images as the procession by St Leo's Catholic Church moved along the road towards Coca Cola Junction.

By the way, did you notice the hair? Wonder how well coiffed Christ's hair was as he was led like a lamb to the slaughter on Calvary.

First Nation Airlines: First flight

Wings

Last week I flew First Nation Airlines from Abuja to Lagos and was impressed by the new company's outlook. It was the first week that they were deploying their Airbus A320 aircraft and it looked really neat. The best part of the flight was when they served lunch. It was a full compliment of rice and chicken, unlike the dry snack that's served on most local flights. Plus they put a can of Pepsi/7Up/Teem, not just a cup!

Well, I know it was just a marketing appetizer and they would soon revert to status quo, but I wish they'd continue with what they've started. Airline passengers deserve the best. 

(Photos taken with a Google Nexus One camera phone)

Refueling

Inside the cabin

Friendly crew

Felabration 2011: Fela's Children

A young man raises a clenched fist in honour of Fela at the end of an Afrobeat performance at the Afrika Shrine during Felabration 2011

Friday night is usually the biggest of all the performances during the annual weeklong Felabration. Extremely long queues of people trying to get into the Afrika Shrine can be seen all over as the crowd press into each other. However, order is maintained by the aptly named green-shirted Shrine Police that keep everyone in check with their whips and clubs and sometimes a machete or two. It's not as rowdy as it may sound. 

So struggling to get inside with my media pass, I tried to document the crowd and their loyalty to the genre created by the genius that Fela Kuti was. I have decided to call this post Fela's Children because no matter how long that it seems the legend has been dead, he still possesses a huge following of young men and women (some who were toddlers when he died and many not even born). Such is the power of Afrobeat that it will grow continuously for a long time. 

 Felabration 2011 has come and gone. Like Gabriel Okara wrote in his poem The Fisherman's Invocation, "the celebration is now ended, the drums lay quiet, silent, waiting" for another year.  

Faces of young men in crowd during Felabration 2011 

Cross section of the audience at the Afrika Shrine during Felabration 2011

Security guards frisk a man on the long queue to enter the Afrika Shrine during Felabration 2011

Bar Beach: WatchTower

 

This watch tower stands on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean at the Bar Beach in Victoria Island.

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).

Bar Beach: Girl on a Swing

A girl sits on an old swing looking into the distance at the Bar Beach resort in Victoria Island. The beach is a popular destination for fun seekers in Lagos after its reclamation from the surging ocean waves in recent times.

Window seat

A passenger looks out of the window as a commercial bus makes its way along the expressway at Surulere, Lagos.

AP No. 1 Campbell Street

This very antique-looking African Petroleum (AP) fuel station is on Campbell Street. It's listed as AP No. 1 on the official manifest of the petroleum regulatory company PPPRA which makes me feel it is actually the  first ever fuel station in Lagos (which in turn could make it the oldest in Nigeria). The dealer is Chief Isaac Nweke.

St George's Hall

This really cool looking building along Broad Street is the St George's Hall, home to the Freemasons Lodge 3065. I found it unusual and knocked on the door hoping to find someone to speak to and perhaps see the insides but was told by the guard that it doesn't open on Saturdays. It was he who later told me it belonged to the Freemasons, "a club of big men," he said.

On closer scrutiny I discovered that the sign on the top is the compass and square of the masonry. This lodge was founded in 1904. There's a website link here.

As I'm presently reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, I have a little insight into the workings of the fraternity depending on how true the fictional tale mirrors reality. According to Brown, "we all fear what we do not understand." How well that is true with the Masons I do not know but I would like to see the insides of that magnificent hall that lends so much olden beauty to Broad Street.

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. 

Geese!

Saw these beautiful geese at the Freedom Park last weekend where I had gone to do a pre-wedding photo shoot for my friends. They walked slowly and majestically, not fearing the humans around, to the fountain and sipped through the water for food. Cool stuff.

Rain bricks

People walk over bricks laid along the floor of this pedestrian bridge in Ikosi after the rains poured all night during the weekend. It is a bit of a balancing act as people try to avoid soiling their shoes during the early morning rush. Long queues usually form as pedestrians take turns to make it across the little pond formed on the bridge.

Sun No Dey Sleep - Beautiful Nubia concert

Beautiful Nubia 

On Sunday June 19 (Father's Day), folk singer Beautiful Nubia launched his eighth studio album titled Sun No Dey Sleep (The Sun does not sleep) at the Sparkle Hall in Ikeja. Being a fan, I attended and it was another amazing performance from the artiste. Here's a link to an article I wrote about his music from a socio-political perspective.

Saxophonist George

Afrojazz singer Tutu

BN Fans

BN with fans

BN signing autographs

TELL Magazine at 20

This is the corporate headquarters of TELL magazine where I work. We're 20 years old this year. I was about ten when the first edition of the magazine hit the streets in April 1991. The same issues that were treated in 1991 are still in the media today. Sometimes I wonder if journalism changes anything. 

Here's an article I wrote about the anniversary last month.

Duro Ikujenyo and the Age of Aquarius

Fela disciple Duro Ikujenyo (playing the keyboard) and his band the Age of Aquarius perform every month in Ikoyi, a wealthy suburb of Lagos. His performances are a mix of jazz, highlife and Afrobeat. Come, sit down and listen to good quality music away from the hustle and bustle of the city. And you might also run into international recording stars like Keziah Jones in the audience.

Horsemen waiting for fare

Two horsemen at the Eleko Beach in Lekki talk while they wait for tourists to hire their animals for jolly rides

Lagos Carnival 2011

 Beautiful faces, cool costumes, warm weather and what you get is an ecstatic crowd out to watch the floats of the Lagos carnival 2011. A little less elaborate this year and, I dare say boring, most of the costumes were just a rehash of last year's. I guess the prolonged election season caused it. Here are two shots that I really liked from my collection.

Freedom Park Lagos

The Stage 

"A performance stage bestrides the very spot where the prison gallows once stood and performed their macabre ritual," writes Nobelist Wole Soyinka. 

Architect Theo Lawson told me that the Broad Street Prisons were constructed at the cost of 16,000 British pounds in 1885 while a miserly sum of 700 pounds was given for the education budget of "the natives" in that year. 

Photo of the Gallows on display in the new museum