Day 24: Eating. Shopping & Seeing Lagos

On Day 24, I had made plans with Mayowa, Sope's nephew that lives and works in Lagos. Mayowa's father is Sope's older brother and this gave me a sense of how old Sope was (though he only looks a few years older than Eddy and I!).

Mayowa had recently finished his undergraduate studies and year of service and was working as an accountant while studying for his licensing exams. Mayowa is younger than my younger twin brothers but in talking to him, I got the sense he was very mature, thoughtful and worldly, having the opportunity to travel quite a bit. He had visited Sope in the US and said that he loved the US but loved Nigeria more. While he aspires to study abroad for an MBA (either Columbia in NYC or INSEAD in France both of which have scholarship programs for Nigerians - he's very resourceful too), he hopes to ultimately return to Nigeria. He spoke of his thoughts on poverty, wealth and corruption in Lagos and Nigeria and how his experiences as a grade school teacher during his year of service in Lagos shaped his perspectives. He even dedicates a portion of his monthly salary and time to volunteer and donate to causes important to him. I was impressed by his maturity and his love for Lagos and Nigeria.

We had lunch at a place nearby called Londoner Restaurant. He got chicken and chips and I got chicken and mushroom pizza. This placed marked the first time in which oyibos almost out numbered the number of Africans in a room! A couple of Asians, a large white party and a large mixed party had come for lunch there as well. I also learned that there are no smoking laws in Lagos (like in Chicago) and some gentleman was smoking indoors. Mayowa likes to frequent this place almost weekly to watch football (= soccer) so I got the sense the place was kind of like a sports bar too. Food in Lagos is not cheap; check out the menu. 154 Naira = 1 USD.


When I had spoke to Mayowa that I would like to go shopping to buy locally made beads, Mayowa said he would take care of it which meant that he asked his girlfriend, Oyinda who we picked up after lunch. Oyinda is currently working as a church camp counselor and while we waited for her, all the children were again looking at me (we were in a less wealthy neighborhood) with even a group of young girls gathering near me. I think one of the girls challenged each other to say hello to me. Even Mayowa noted the gawking. What can I say, I look white!

We ended driving toward a local market and just right outside of the market, there was Hausa men selling handmade, northern Nigerian bracelets and necklaces. I left with quite a bit of items for less than $20 USD. The Hausa man was happy to sell and I was happy too. I had accomplished buying some gifts!

One thing that slowed down our day was the famous Lagos traffic. There was lots and lots of traffic to the point that we bought some coconut chips to eat from a street hawker while waiting. I think for one instance, we moved about 20 feet in 20 minutes. 1 foot per minute. Vehicles and motorbikes were even riding on the "sidewalk."


We stopped by Silverbird Cinemas which is a very new and modern movie theater with shopping and a small mini food court. Doesn't this look like it could be anywhere in the world?


Here is me, Mayowa and his gf Oyinda.

Afterwards, we went to go see Lekki which is like the Beverly Hills of Lagos. There is a privately constructed tollroad because private persons were tired of the bad roads maintained by the Lagos State government. Look at how the road actually has lanes and no potholes!


The tollroad is still under development so the further we go into Lekki, the roads got worse. Although there were was a lot of new development and massive estates and buildings (there is lots and lots of undeveloped but very expensive land), there were still quite a few shacks in contrast. On our drive back from Lekki to GRA where the hotel I am staying at is located (which is also another nice area of Lagos), I got to appreciate how expansive the city limits of Lagos was. Mayowa told me how during the last curfew (the day before an election), he had left work at 4:30 PM in Lekki and he didn't get home to GRA until after 11 PM! Lagos traffic is terrible!

Part of this traffic problem is the lack of effective mass transit. There are some big public buses but most people travel by okadas (= motorbike taxis for hire, not illegal in Lagos, just illegal on highway roads), danfos (privately run buses - see below for an example and their love for Obama!) and other bush taxis. There is also a ton of air pollution in Lagos from all these vehicles and everyone and everybody running a generator to have light.


Thanks to Mayowa and Oyinda (and Sope!) for showing me around!