Artisans at the French Bazaar in Lagos

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] The French bazaar was held on the 6th of December in Lagos. Most artisans came from different states in Nigeria to exhibit varieties of products; hand made jam, arts, crafts, sculptures, scented candles, unique gift items and many more. Bellafricana was amongst the artisans, as always, I saved you some interesting pictures.. [/dropcap]

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Lagos Traffic: Stories of Insanity by Brian Botts

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] I’ve enjoyed writing many posts about the things I like and love about Nigeria as well as providing insight on subjects based off of my experience. This post however is going to cover a subject I don’t like about Nigeria; The Famous Lagos Traffic. There have been so many things that have happened to me or that I have witnessed in my years of riding through Lagos. And the only word that comes to mind to really put it all in perspective is ‘Insanity’. [/dropcap]Continue reading

Seafood Festival Lagos, Nigeria

seafood

The Seafood festival Lagos, Nigeria. The beach is a place to be and this is not only for the eternal view of the sea but also for the display of varieties of fishes in different ways on this day. Fish lovers and visitors from Lagos and from other parts of Nigeria came down to have a good time and enjoy the best of fishes gotten by Lagos fishermen.

Lagos fishermen had stands apportioned to them with fresh fishes, smoked fishes and all things marine on display. Maltina and Maggi brands as official sponsors of the day set the atmosphere up for interesting performances for the audience. So with enough fishes to eat and take home, music to dance to and the pepper soup competition which had three contestant winners take home the prize money, it was fun all the way.

Seafood- fish, crab & shrimps

Looking at seafood through a glass case and pointing to what you want is a hit-or-miss method for buying seafood.  You need to see it close-up, touch it and smell it.  Look for the following characteristics:
Seafood should smell like the sea, this is the first step in determining the freshness. Close your eyes and imagine you’re on a beach with a gentle breeze blowing.  You can smell the salty air and maybe a hint of seaweed. This is how your fish should smell.  If you take a whiff and it makes your nose wrinkle or you think it smells ‘fishy’, it’s probably old.  The smell won’t improve with cooking.
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For the investors and the fishermen cooperatives that took stands and displayed their fishes for recognition, it was a win for them. Several fishermen cooperatives were thankful for the initiative of the state government in bringing about this sea food festival. Many sold their batch of fishes and had to go fish for more to sell. Many gave their contacts out to customers who were willing to keep contacting them after the festival.
Lagos-Seafood-Festival1
If buying a whole fish, the eyes should be clear and bright and the skin should be shiny and moist with no discoloration (this also goes for fillets with the skin intact).  If possible, touch the flesh of the fish; it should be resilient.  If an indentation from your finger remains, choose something else. Fresh fish should be stored in the coldest part of your refrigerator (away from lights and the door). It is best if eaten as soon as possible after purchasing it.  If you buy it today, eat it today or tomorrow at the latest.  If your schedule fluctuates such that you never know when you’ll be home to cook, buy frozen fish.  Most seafood is flash-frozen very soon after it’s been cleaned, and as long as it stays frozen there will be very little degradation in quality and flavour.
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Gabriel Olufemi, a fishermen cooperative representative from Badagry had this to say about the seafood festival: “It is a good development for us and it presents our trade to the world. Lagos fishermen get to know themselves too so that we all can work together to move our trade forward. We’ve been selling our fishes since morning to the extent that we had to bring more for those who keep requesting. We are grateful to our government for this festival. We wouldn’t limit our work anymore now that Lagos and the world are aware of us.”

Source: http://connectnigeria.com/

Lekki Conservation Centre

lekki conservation centre....

Lekki Conservation Centre situated on Lekki Peninsula was established in 1990 as biodiversity conservation icon and environment education centre.

The nature park which covers a land area of 78 hectare is one of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) foremost conservation project sites.

Lekki Conservation Centre which is normally a 15 minute drive, is under the management of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and it consists of swamp and savannah habitats.

peacocks at lekki conservation centre

Visitors are ushered into the reserve by a boulevard of coconut trees which leads to a well laid out car and Visitors Park. The reserve is a resort which provides the serenity and beauty of nature in a world class environment.
Lekki-Conservation-Centre_Lagos
There is a cone-shaped building which serves as the auditorium for lectures, conferences, and seminars. First timers to the resort have the opportunity of seeing rare collection of beautiful pictures of endangered species of animals and plants arranged in glass stands around the oval hall.

Endangered species

The reserve has 1.8km nature trail behind the main buildings in which you are ushered in by two wooden tracks.
A death-defying 21 metre-high tree platform known as the tree house where you can have a panoramic view of the reserve, visitor’s center, picnic area and children’s playground among the trees and a bird hide overlooking a swamp/marsh which is home to crocodiles and monitor lizards.
In the trees are Mona monkeys and other species of monkeys while the open grasslands are home to bushbucks, Maxwell’s duikers, giant rats, hogs, mongooses and an impressive variety of birdlife. Park rangers are available to be your guide into the reserve.

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The Nature Reserve: The nature reserve traverses a mosaic of vegetation types, namely: secondary forest, swamp forest and Savanna grassland. The secondary forest has witnessed significant growth since the centre was acquired and this has a notable impact on the centre. It is this natural secondary forest in which animals like Mona monkeys, bushbucks, giant rats, Maxwell Duikers and others reside. The swamp outlook affords tourists, especially nature lovers’ mouth watering opportunity of sitting back to beyond aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem interaction. On the other hand, the bird hide enables avid bird watchers snipe at unaware avifauna that are wading through the pool overlooked by the hide or foraging within the vicinity.

koi pond

The Tree House: The tree house is one of the most fascinating features one can ever come across in an ecotourism zone. The tree house, stylishly seated on a stout dawadawa tree (Pakia biglobossa) rises above 25m. A well protected ladder is ruggedly mounted behind the tree to enable nature enthusiasts reach to tree house to savour the panoramic view of the tree canopy. The rest stops as the name implies serve as rest points and picnic site for small groups of visitors. They are located at about 250m apart on the nature trail boardwalk.

 

Lekki-Conservation_Centre Trail

The Trail Boardwalk: A trail boardwalk was constructed in 1992 to the enrich tourists/visitors view of the vast resources of the nature reserve which is encapsulated on a mangrove terrain. The trail stretches a length of 2 Km. some of the side attractions along the trail are swamp outlook, bird hide, rest stops and the tree house. At the end of trail boardwalk seats the nation station – a recreation island in the middle of a forest. It has a semi-enclosed block structure containing the indoor picnic facilities and conveniences. The outdoor has outdoor game facilities mostly for children.

Lekki-Conservation-Centre-lagos-Bird Watching

Bird Watching: Visitors get to see some of the African rarest birds with its unique walkway through the swamp forest at Lekki Conservation Centre. Among the birds recorded at the centre are Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Lizard Buzzard, Harrier Hawk, Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus), Red–Eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata), Blue Spotted Wood-Dove (Turtur afer), Green Pigeon, Wood Land Kingfisher, Allied Hornbill, Piping Hornbill (Bycanistes fistulator), Common Bulbul (Pyanonotus barbatus) etc.

Culled from cometonigeria

Jonathan “Mavua” Lessor, The Painter

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] Jonathan “Mavua” Lessor ( born on 26 November, 1960 ) hails from Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. He had his early education in Warri, Delta State. In 1986, he obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND), Upper Credit, in painting  at Auchi Polytechnic and did his National Youth Service at the Federal College of Education, Abeokuta from 1986-1987. [/dropcap]Continue reading

Acute Paintings Of Lagos City

Lagos Nigeria is arguably the largest city in Africa with the population standing at 17.5 million at 2006  and 21 million in the present day after growing at a rate of 3.2%. This state in Nigeria constitutes the bulk of the producers and consumers of goods and services and it’s also the prime beneficiary of development in the country perhaps the reason for massive influx of individuals from other states and countries.
In Lagos, population has been a rather sensitive topic. A conversation I had with a friend a few weeks threw more light on the dangers and the future of Lagos state if it continues to grow at this rate. It is said that there are no more lands in the inner-Lagos and for this reason property developers are moving to the outskirts like Owode, Ifo, Adodo Ota, Ibeju, Sango, to create habitats. It is arguable that this is also a reason for the Lagos state government embankment on ‘Eko Atlantic’ land reclamation project aside creating a permanent solution for Bar beach’s encroachment from the Atlantic ocean.

It is said that this dynamic new city would house at least 250,000 people and provide a workplace for another 150,000, but that it’s still a long way shy of the 17 million population, that is if we are talking about depopulating Lagos. This does not still help the traffic caused by number of vehicles on the roads which according to Lagos State Ministry of Transportation is about 1.1 million.

Now what is the future of Lagos? I stumbled upon some art works online, the urban future as foreseen by a San Francisco-based artist Michael Kerbow. The paintings are a series of acrylic and oil paintings depicting the inevitable result of human over-consumption, over-construction, and over-population of the cities, where things are headed unless we consider our actions and find a way of depopulating our cities .

Compulsive Actions
This picture clearly shows you too many cars on the roads and alternate highways constructed to cater for the increasing number of cars on the roads.

Churn

This features a “humongous churning mass of cars” To Kerbow, the painting “is a good metaphor for talking about fossil fuel usage.” A Means to an End, meanwhile, is a “parable about human hubris.” Also inspired by Bruegel, it’s based on the story of Icarus. “Every day our lives are about getting from point A to B,” he says. “When you’re commuting, you’re not being mindful about what’s powering that way of existing.” Hence the smoke stack fouling the atmosphere out beyond the traffic jam.

Empty Promises

A look at this image reminds me of how empty many towers and high rise building in Victoria Island Lagos Nigeria are. Most of the buildings were constructed with bank loans and promises that soon as they start to function, big firms and conglomerates would move in and perhaps after a few years, the construction money will start to be made back but unfortunately the rates of spaces in these buildings are so high that companies after moving in because of the posh and glamour start moving out because they cannot continue to pay the high rates, not if they want to stay in business.

Convoy

In Lagos Nigeria, everyone wants to own a car, oh well, that’s past tense, now everyone not just in Lagos but in Nigeria wants to own a Private jet. According to Punch newspaper NG of Jan 2014, the Nigerian presidency has 11 private jets, and according to a Guardian publication, Nigeria tops lists of private jet owners in Africa. Now looking at this picture, I see danfo buses and ants of cars, a typical old oshodi image. This is the Lagos I know so well and I must commend this artist whom I doubt has never being to Nigeria, or Lagos for that matter.

Now when you look at the sky, you see the jets and planes. This is what will happen when we refuse to weight the consequences of every action we take.

Culled from thebusinessaim

Lost in Lagos Presents Discover Lagos!

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] Lost in Lagos Live is hosting it’s biggest lifestyle event yet!  With a diverse range of vendors like Delavi Couture from fashion and home furnishings to gifts and coffee, there is something for everyone. At this year’s event they are celebrating SPAN at 10, with a costume party in the special ‘Kids Tent’ and a dance performance by the SPAN dancers.  [/dropcap]

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Aso-Oke Inspired Tie By Ty-Tys

Aso-Oke Inspired Tie By Ty-Tys

Aso-oke has in recent times become more versatile in its use and is no longer limited to its traditional uses. The cloth is fast evolving into the fabric of choice for cutting edge fashion and trendy accessories in different countries and world regions.

Vibrant Aso Oke Bowties by Ty-Tys Designs

Ademiluyi did something creative with neckties! Instead of cotton or usual silk materials that ties are often made of, he decided to make ‘Aso-oke neckties’, a hand loomed cloth intricately woven predominantly by the Yoruba people, using techniques that were developed centuries ago and passed down through generations.

Vibrant Aso Oke Bowtie & Tie by Ty-Tys Designs

The Yoruba people are from Southwest Nigeria. With a population of over 30million, they are also found in many West African countries and diasporic communities all over the world. The Yoruba people wear Aso-oke fabrics sewn in traditional styles on special occasions such as weddings, birthdays or christenings. Ty-tys neckwear is hand made and can be customized to meet your needs.

Source: http://kemiogunniyi.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/fashion/

https://mariamtijani.com/aso-oke-trend-vibrant-stripes-season/

https://www.kemimobuse.com/2017/09/i-am-lawyer-by-profession-and-i-make.html

To reach Ty-Tys, call +234 805 054 0564 or email [email protected] or visit www.ty-tys.com

Rihanna Class Up In Stella Jean Ankara Print Dress

rihanna-stella-jean-ankara-print-layered-dress

Rihanna Class Up In Stella Jean Ankara Print Dress and what a moment it was! Rihanna visited the white house wearing one of Stella Jean fall 2014 collection. She looks cute and classy in this and well put-together here.

rihanna-stella-jean-ankara-print-layered-dress

I just love the African influence, creativity and colours infused within each piece.

I love how this Stella Jean ‘Barbara’ sheath dress marries traditional African print with a borrowed-from-the-boys Wall-Street-esque striped collar and sleeves for eye-catching contrast.

This colourful look is from Stella Jean‘s Fall/Winter 2014 collection

 

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rihanna+class+up+in+stella+jean+ankara+print+dress&qpvt=Rihanna+Class+Up+In+Stella+Jean+Ankara+Print+Dress&FORM=IGRE

Cooking The Nigerian Ogbonu Soup

[dropcap custom_class=”normal”] Here you’ll find cooking tips, hints, and suggestions to make life easier in the kitchen. Check out the  cooker tips and tricks that we’ve collected. Plus, you will find in-depth how-to articles, and more! Today we will be talking about how to prepare delicious Ogbonu soup. [/dropcap]

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