The City That Never Sleeps
“In Nigeria, there is energy, whether it is Lagos, which is sheer anarchy, but it is not lethargic. It is strong, even aggressive and if that energy could be directed to work it will produce really enormous results.” — Chinua Achebe
Writing this off the happy feeling of Elden Ring winning the Game of The Year at The Game Awards earlier today. Sorry PlayStation fanboys, you folks were not familiar with its game. Last year I got the opportunity to be in Lagos for a weekend which I wrote about here. Although I didn’t get the opportunity to tick everything on my bucket list then. However, you know what they say about goals? I don’t know the actual quote but it’s something in line with pushing even if you don’t meet the deadline you specified. This time around I got to stay not for a weekend in Lagos but for 3 weeks, thanks to the ASUU strike. Plus I got to tick everything left on the bucket list.
I think I have a personal beef with the city of Lagos. It’s not like the place isn’t worth the hype but come on, is it worth trading your sanity over? Before it seems like I am hating on the city, let me focus on stuff that happened. My flight to Lagos from Port Harcourt landed around 12:45 pm and I headed to my host’s house. I didn’t eat before I travelled and I didn’t want to take chances of not finding food when I arrive at my accommodation. I told the Uber driver to take me to a place I could find cheap food, with emphasis on cheap because I was heading to the island and I know prices I have heard on Twitter ng. He took me to Molabat restaurant where I quickly ordered food for him and me. Unknown to me this location would later be responsible for feeding me throughout my stay in Lagos. I was tempted to order amala but I decided to chill small and I got jollof rice instead. It’s safe to say that they make the best jollof rice in that Lekki. Source? I no fit lie for you.
I got settled in and I was feeling that Lekki vibe. I didn’t have neighbours who came knocking on my door, I didn’t even know who was my neighbour or not. Everyone just minds their business and I only leave the house to buy stuff at the supermarket or when I have an outing. As a semi-active user of Snapchat, I have come across Poco Lee’s account there and viewed some of his snaps. Experiencing Lagos nightlife in person made me understand how it was possible for someone like him to be doing “we outside” every night. Lagos has a ton of locations with awesome spots. I visited Silver Fox for the first time at an exotic club and I was sort of surprised. Is this the same Nigeria I was born in that such a thing exists? Hearing about something and actually seeing it with your eyes are two different things you know. We were occasionally met by the ladies there offering their services which we regularly declined. At that spot I knew the prayers of my mother were still helping my life, thank you, mum.
October 1st was Brymo’s concert, part of the reason I was in Lagos and I was excited about it. I and a couple of friends already got tickets to the show. They came over to the house and we went from there to Landmark beach where we arrived around 10 pm for an event slated for 8 pm. I wanted to go earlier as I knew last year’s concert started at 8:46 pm ish but my friends told me he was going to be late. One thing I brag about Brymo is that he turns up nearly on time to his shows compared to most Nigerian musicians but on that day, he failed me. Man legit came on stage by 12:38 am and I was pissed. In as much as Chike and Zadok came to perform before he started, we didn’t pay money for him to turn up that late. I most likely won’t be going out of my way to attend his concert in a city as far as Lagos. Anyways he came on stage and the night was fun, his performance slowly reduced how upset I was and before I could say jack, we were all vibing to his song. I even got interviewed by a station there, you can watch that here. The concert ended around 3 am and we started coming back home. The night was still young so we decided to get some drinks and continue the fun at home. In my mind, I was like, how will we see a shop open by that time? Apparently, the people of Lagos never sleep and we saw a store close to the estate.
I woke up the next day with the urge to eat ewa agoyin, got it at a shop some blocks away and it was delicious. Safe to say Lagos has this on chokehold, they shouldn’t bother claiming the plantain sector with that boli of theirs. Na Rivers state get the real plantain sector with bole. Another I noticed was the whole, “Island is expensive” discourse I see around isn’t entirely true. It just depends on where you go, so cut your coat according to the material you have. Some days later I decided to try out amala. A week doesn’t go by without me hearing about the famous amala. I have always wanted to try it but I decided to wait till I was in a state that is Yoruba dominated. I tried amala and it was not worth it. Mehhn the only good thing about the meal was the meat, that asides amala is not it. Feel free to call me anytime there’s amala slander, I will be there.
Another thing I have always wanted to eat was ramen. I have searched for years in Port-Harcourt and no restaurant actually made ramen. I saw some restaurants had it on their menu in Lagos and I was excited. I called the Izanagi Japanese Cuisine restaurant to find out how much their Chilli Beef Ramen cost and they said ₦17,300. I thanked them and quickly ended the call. How was I going to explain to my parents that I ate a plate of food for ₦17,300? I told myself when I blow, I’ll eat ramen and probably in an Asian country. For now, make I stick with drinking garri.
I experienced Lagos nightlife a couple of times and each night aside from the debit alerts there was something to learn. It felt like I was carrying out a social experiment. I saw diverse people and I found out I enjoyed observing them. The IMAX theatre’s screen was insanely huge, I enjoyed seeing Black Adam there. I also saw it at an MX4D theatre the same day too. I got to attend Technext Coinference and Web3bridge Blockchain conference where I met a couple of amazing folks and I pitched Decentralized Science to them too. I also tried to link up with folks I knew staying at Lagos, couldn’t meet all but I did my best. Sadly my “vacation” was cut short when ASUU announced the suspension of their strike.
As someone who sees money as a social construct, a means to an end, during my stay I noticed how much comfort money can give you. For example, I didn’t cook at all in those three weeks and I stayed. Instead, I was ordering food. I never touched a broom or mop because there was a cleaner who came around to handle that. The only thing I did was wash my clothes which to me isn’t working at all. My aim in increasing my income is solely to be able to afford gadgets I like and to make life comfortable for me and the people around me.
Lagos is a beautiful, energised city with industrious folks. There are lots of beautiful places to visit, ranging from Scoop’d to Landmark Beach to Bayroot to Rufus and Bee. Occasionally thoughts of relocating to Lagos to rent a house similar to the one I was staying in came to my mind. However, Port Harcourt has my heart and I wouldn’t want to leave the city unless it’s for another city in another country.
Thanks for listening to me talk, it’s been a long while. Feel free to drop topics you want me to talk about in the comment section.
