There's no place on earth like Nigeria! I cannot begin to describe the intensity of everything there. Someone once said that Lagos is an insult to your senses, everything you see, taste, touch, smell is overwhelming! That's a bit dramatic, to me the place was just blissful chaos and intoxicating energy. From when we first arrived, spending 3 hours in traffic on a Friday night, seeing huge crowds of people in the middle of the night just going about their business like it's daytime, it was definitely the experience of a life-time!
Yet for me, the richest part of my time in Lagos was the conversations we had with my friend Omoh. Being stuck in all that traffic gave us a lot of time to talk, and talk we did. Surprisingly enough, we both come from countries which are notorious for something (Corruption in Nigeria and Crime in SA). I realised that to a certain extent, we constantly have to keep apologising for the things our countrymen often do. I was shocked to hear of how Omoh on one of his visits to SA was confronted at the airport with a woman who stamped his Visa and said: 'It's valid for 3 months, now don't stay here for 3 years!' OMW! I was touched to hear that. Then, as if that wasn't enough, when he went outside the airport, he met a policeman who wanted a R100 bribe and said if he didn't pay it he'd be arrested. When I heard that, I was dumbfounded, totally speechless... But my friend took it all in his stride... He says the one thing that changed his mind about South Africans was when one of our common friends invited him to stay at his house, he hadn't expected the hospitality and has since seen that not all of us are rude/corrupt. I was proud to hear that we still have good advocates for South Africa and even more that not all of us see someone from the continent and automatically judge them.
The other interesting part of our conversation was how ingrained corruption is in Nigeria. Omoh mentioned that people see top officials taking from the people and not being punished so the average man on the street realises that he also should make a quick buck where he can. A few WoW moments for me included hearing that Nigeria has got over 100 TV stations, 36 provinces and Nollywood is really making an impact on the world's stage! We passed this huge building and that's apparently one of the Castles for one of the Kings. The place was beautiful and looked bigger than the white house.
Then I saw something I've never seen in SA, a drive-through ATM! The mall was also pretty cool, it felt just like being in Sandton/Menlyn. Omoh had to get me medication for my flu (which was just ruining the experience for me) and then we went to Open Mic at Rodizzios. The club was nice and chilled, with musicians, comedians and even a ventroluquist (hope I spelt that right). Then the MC decides to walk straight to our table and ask me: 'Where are you from?' I was shocked, didn't think I stuck out that much but clearly I did. Then he asked me to tell him how to say 'I love you' in Afrikaans, OMW! But all in all, it was a great evening!
The first night we went to this club on Victoria Island which is where we stayed, ah-mazing! Very posh, similar to Taboo in Sandton, yet around 2, a guy came and was walking around playing a drum along with the songs, *Priceless!*
Our friends in Lagos made us feel really welcome, and their hospitality was absolutely amazing. I can now share with my fellow S.Africans that not all people from Nigeria are the same, just like not all South Africans are xenophobic. It felt good to spend a weekend with young people who are so far from home but quite similar to us, what binds us is definitely greater than what separates us.
I remember seeing a lady with a t-shirt written: I've Been Naija'd. That's definitely me! I loved Lagos and the next time I go I'd love to spend more time and see more of the sites.
