LOVING LAGOS? … YES, LOVING LAGOS!
(Posted 08th December 2019)
Loving Lagos? Yes, you heard right, Loving Lagos though for some that may be a contradiction in terms because who, after all would love Lagos’ traffic? Well along the traffic were opportunities created as seen during a recent visit when literally walking supermarkets worked the traffic hotspots and one truly can buy anything from milk to batteries and I am sure, if one would place an order for Jollof Rice with one of the vendors, when next coming by this spot it would be available and for sale.
(Some of the Nigeria Travel Week participants visiting the Loving Lagos headquarters)
But back to the Loving Lagos thing.
Delegates and participants in the Nigeria Travel Week 2019 had the opportunity to visit Onikan House. I had no idea what to expect but was pleasantly surprised when entering the building and seeing the history and emergence of modern Lagos well documented, besides the expert explanations from our host.
He led us through the history from the very early days when first a settlement was established in what was to become Lagos and then narrated the stories which went along with the different ages and centuries, from 1472 up to 1900 and then to the dawn of Nigerian Independence.
From 1960 onwards to present day 2019 did more information come to light, too much to write about here but certainly good enough that a visitor to Lagos should take time out to visit Onikan House and learn more about it.
Old maps and a copy of the treaty to abolish slave trade in Lagos between Great Britain and Lagos dated back to January 1852 are just some of the artefacts and documents which can be seen when touring the house.
Of course is an extensive brief over the political history of modern day Nigeria since independence not missing, giving a grand overview of the times when democratically elected leaders were replaced by military strongmen, when power returned to the people through the ballot boxes and how, interesting enough, former military heads of state ended up being democratically elected to serve again as head of state, like the globally famous Olusegun Obasanjo and the now serving Muhammadu Buhari.
Also part of the displays are pictures of old buildings, street views and key assemblies, which makes Onikan House a museum for Nigerian history in its own right.
Loving Lagos however does more than all of that. Onikan House is just one of their ventures and they are also licenced as a tour operator, taking visitors in Tuk Tuks and their busses across the city to showcase other attractions one can explore while in Lagos. Their guides, who were part of the guided tour through Onikan House, made a good show of their knowledge and humorous nature and will no doubt give anyone booking a tour with them an unforgettable memory – and a very different view of Lagos one might have had without a visit to the museum and perhaps a Tuk Tuk tour.
(For those daring enough can tours across Lagos be organized with both Tuk Tuk and of course a van – with an in built dining table in case traffic delays lunch)
Loving Lagos … any more questions?
