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

Faces of OAU at EMUfest

Fourth year Law student Victoria Ojo 

The crowd mobs Beautiful Nubia

Yinka Davies and fans

Yinka Davies with OAU Director of Socials Wale and friends

Nubia in a group photo with OAU students

Dancing time

Victoria Ojo and Yemisi Akingbola

Ijo Soul time

Seven lives that's what I've got I'm an African boy

Students from the English department

Post grad student Tokunbo Dada and alumnus Femi Morgan

Sador and friend

Professor Webster

We saw Beautiful Nubia live, yeah!

Images from EMUfest at OAU, Ile Ife

Beautiful Nubia in concert 

Beautiful Nubia wows the Ife crowd

Jimi Solanke

Beautiful Nubia plays the drums

Orlando Julius Ekemode

Yinka Davies

Davies and Julius performing the 70s hit track Ijo Soul

Lone wolf

Rottweiler puppy howling like a wolf.

Sunset

Shot this image of the sun setting over Ikeja.

Traffic

A scene like this is typical of Lagos during evening rush hour. This is a shot of the Michael Otedola Estate interchange along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Three Elders: Lagos White Cap Chiefs

This statue of three Lagos white cap chiefs is one of the most famous monuments in Lagos. They reside on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where they welcome travelers into the city. I had a post two years ago that talks about the legend.

The sculpture was created by Olugodun Shodeinde in 1991 and it was commissioned by the government of Raji Rasaki. The statues that represent Idejo chiefs in traditional greeting mode are about 12 feet tall.

This sculpture was part of those made by world famous painter Kehinde Wiley in his The World Stage: Africa Lagos-Dakar collection.

Beautiful Nubia in concert III

Revelers dancing to Beautiful Nubia's music at a concert in Ikeja, Lagos in May. His concerts are always full of vigour. It can be a family's day out. And I hope many people get to attend the EMUfest this weekend.

Beautiful Nubia in concert II

Beautiful Nubia (right) and poet Edaoto in one of those moments when the music just takes you over. It is an amazing sight to behold, one where there's no restraint.

Beautiful Nubia in concert

Here's Beautiful Nubia performing one of his fan favourite tracks Seven Lifes with a calabash gourd rattle. I look forward to the EMUfest to hear his insightful lyrics again.

EMUfest: Festival of folk music

Folk singer and recording artiste Beautiful Nubia (seated) will be headlining the premier edition of the EniObanke Music Festival next weekend in Ile Ife and Osogbo, both culturally important cities in the South West of Nigeria. The festival holds at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife (by the way its my alma mater) and at the Delightsome Hotel Resort in Osogbo on November 27/28.

Other artistes billed for the festival are Afrobeat innovator Orlando Julius Ekemode and folklorist Jimi Solanke as well as diva Yinka Davies.

Beautiful Nubia (a.k.a Segun Akinlolu), someone I deeply respect, is a leading light in the cultural renaissance movement in Nigeria. A poet, song writer and band leader whose hit album Jangbalajugbu served as soundtrack during my final year at university six years ago.

In the next few days I will post images of him from a concert I attended in May.

West Africa's Tallest Xmas Tree

For several years, the Coca Cola brand has sponsored the erection of this Xmas Tree which is billed as the tallest in West Africa. When completed after about three/four weeks of construction work, it'll stand at 32.5 metres tall. Massive!

It is in front of the National Theatre. I will post another shot of it when it is finally completed.

A History of the Yoruba People

One of the other books that caught my fancy at the fair is this one. Definitely voluminous and rich in the history of my people, I will acquire it soon.

The image on the cover is a bronze statue of the Ooni of Ile Ife, the ancestral home of the Yorubas. The Ile Ife people were adept at bronze casting since 700 AD. Most of the works depicting royalty are now held in European museums after they were plundered during colonialism.

The Abyssinian Boy

On sale at the Lagos Book Festival, The Abyssinian Boy by award winning writer Onyeka Nwelue is one of the books I'd like to read. Even though I have a feeling I don't like the author because of some things I have heard, I will give it a shot one of these days as soon as I've cleared up the backlog on my reading list.

Lagos Book Festival

The Lagos Book and Arts Festival (LABAF) was held last weekend at the National Theatre. I was there on the second day where I shot this image of my friend buying a book.

The LABAF is in its 12th edition. It has served as an avenue for book lovers and culture enthusiasts to exchange ideas.