It hit me 45 minutes before my plane is supposed to land in Lagos. I am a bit anxious and nervous. I might be less nervous if we were landing during day time, or I had a clearer idea about who was going to pick me up, or IF someone is going to pick me up at all. The big diver guy I met while waiting for my connection in J-burg told me “you don’t want to leave that airport by yourself, and I am telling you this as a guy.” He works at the oilrigs around Africa. He told me he saw Niger Delta, “not a place you want to go,” and that he was going to Ghana, “I am so happy to go there, they are mellow and nicer.” Thanks for the heads up mate! He also thought me a very important saying if things get complicated, and unfortunately I cannot remember now, but it means “I don’t want to have any problems.” He did look concerned, but smiled anyways.
In short: if these random driver and the marketing director who work for the guy we are doing this book for, do not show up tonight, I am looking at either sleeping in Lagos airport (I am not sure if that is a possibility yet) or taking a huge risk and taking a cab to the city. I never feared any trip, any city, anybody before. Yet, whoever I spoke about Nigeria, looks at me with these big eyes, I can sense the panic in their eyes. I am not even going to a conflict zone to do real reporting. I hope they are being over protective.
That’s one part of why I am being overly emotional, the other is witnessing once again that when someone passionately wants something, he/she can get way out of his way and do so much to have it. Even though it is a beautiful feeling when one is the reason of driving a man, on the other hand, when someone else tells you that they cannot do something because they have “so much work” you know it is pure bullshit. It is annoying to be overly pragmatic sometimes, kills the innocent romance, the little flame before it becomes a fire.
Anyways: I am going to try to erase these thoughts. Appearing at Lagos airport with teary eyes is not professional and grown-up at all. I am hoping that the person who picks me up and takes me to a decent (I was going to use the “nice” than thought what Edo said about it!) hotel to shower and rest and maybe show me where I can listen some good music tonight. It is Thursday night in town, though I don’t know what that means in Lagos.
Truth be told, I wish the whole project was taking place in Lagos instead 20-year old Abuja. Lagos has history, architecture, people, ocean, traffic jams, and as far as I have read, an incredible music scene. If it all goes well, I am going to come back a couple of days before my flight leaves for Johannesburg and tour the city, take pictures, and hopefully shoot an episode of the hey taxi in Lagos, with an okada. Okada’s are motorcycle cabs that buzz around town and as Nigerians say “there is no road too narrow or a place too remote for Okada.”
Lagos was Nigeria’s former capital and it is still its most populous city. Lagos was the capital of Nigeria from 1914 up to 1991, when the Federal Capital Territory was established at Abuja. Although there is a huge spectrum of wealth distribution among the people who reside in Lagos, the city has one of the highest standards of living as compared to other urban centers in Nigeria as well as in Africa. It is called Centre of Excellence because of its reputation of housing the best of Nigeria’s skilled workforce. As Nigeria’s most prosperous city, much of the nation’s wealth and economic activities are concentrated here. This cosmopolitan metropolis is also the headquarters of the acclaimed second largest movie industry in the world, Nollywood.
Lagos is a port and has historically been a trade post, changing hands from the Portuguese to the British and ultimately to the locals. Trade has continued to be a major driver for Lagos’ economy. The Port of Lagos exports growing amounts of crude oil. The petroleum-related industry, which dominated in the 1970s, directly affected the rapid growth of Lagos.
One of the most interesting aspects of Lagos to me is that it used to be center of slave trade. Most of the people I have interacted in my life, especially in Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean, had their ancesters sold in the world’s biggest slave market at the time. The infamous slave trade in Nigeria has a long history and Badagry slave market has a leading role in that story. The ancient town of Badagry was founded around l425 A.D. Today, it is the second largest commercial town in Lagos State, located an hour from Lagos and half hour from the Republic of Benin.
The ancient town served mainly the Oyo Empire, which was comprised of Yoruba and Ogu people. In the early 1500's, slaves were transported from West Africa to America through Badagry. It is estimated that through Badagry no fewer than 550,000 African slaves to Americas were exported, during the period of the American Independence in l787. Mostly Yoruba people, slaves were brought mainly from Nigeria and the neighboring countries of Benin and Togo. Consequently, the slave trade became the major source of income for the colonialist Europeans who settled in Badagry.
Today it is a tourist attraction (isn’t it is ironic that most of the artifacts that people visit as tourist, all around the world, have mostly been very sad places for a lot of people?). This particular one must have an incredible aura, probably so gray one feels deep in their bones. I will keep you posted if I get to visit.
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