Ford’s expansion plans in the Middle-East and Africa will see the facelifted Ford Ranger T6 being built in Ikeja, Nigeria from the fourth quarter of 2015 onwards. The American brand will work together in partnership with Coscharis Motors Limited, a major Ford dealer in Nigeria, on the project.
The plant, which is located in the Lagos state a few hundred kilometres southwest of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, will assemble the Ranger in semi-knockdown form, with body parts and components coming in from South Africa. Nigeria will be the second African country in which Ford will produce its vehicles.
The plant at Ikeja will have an annual production capacity of 5,000 units, and Ford says the pick-ups assembled there will serve the demand of the local Nigerian market. Currently, the Ranger is also manufactured in Ford’s South African plant, one of the three facilities where it is being built.
In what is undoubtedly the biggest payout ever in the history of sports betting in Nigeria’s history, a University don, Professor of Computer Engineering, Godwin Ighalo at the Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State sets a new record.
MD, 1960BET, Mr Dotun Ajegbile with Professor Godwin Ighalo. Photo: Nigerian Hive
This sum is the largest ever recorded Sports bet win in Nigeria. The sexagenarian accomplished this feat staking only N800 ($4) in two different stakes of N500 and N300 raking in N36,840,971.25 and N22,104,582.75 respectively. Speaking on how he made it, he said, “Since my childhood days, I used to have strong interests in probability, relationships and special intelligence. All these with adequate sports betting research I conducted over the years helped in making it possible”.
Top Sports OAP, Murphy Ijemba conducting an interview with Professor Godwin Ighalo, alongside Boye Amosu of Complete Sports. Photo: Nigerian Hive
In Nigeria, a rare initiative by Kunle Adeyemi to build a floating school for the water front community of Makoko in Lagos Nigeria has triggered a frenzy of global innovations towards providing affordable infrastructural solution on water!
Makoko
Inhabitants interconnect the habitations using canoes.
The Makoko community in Lagos is a sharp contrast to the high profile, very expensive properties that line the waterfronts of Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital – it is a poor fishing community. A heavily populated slum!
The Makoko community believe to have existed since the 18th century, a small fishing community has evolved into a floating town. Though population census was not carried out in this part of Lagos state largely considered by the government as illegal, the population is estimated at well over 150,000. The settlement consists mainly of wooden habitations on stilts, self-mapped with streets. Transportation is mainly by dug-out canoes with few privileged individuals owning motored outboards.
Aerila view of Makoko Community. Photo: Iwan Baan
Though the fishing community acutely lacks government presence in infrastructure and human development, the self governing community has made efforts to have it’s own schools, stores and maintain customary law and order. In July 2012, Nigerian government officials destroyed dozens of residences after giving residents 72 hours notice of eviction. The destruction of this historic community was in order to redevelop what is now seen as prime waterfront. There was huge outcry.
It was generally believed that developing the water front will be too expensive to be affordable for the current inhabitant and it will be a lopsided investment, which will be unsustainable. But somewhere, someone was about to prove this wrong.
Enter Kunle Adeyemi
Kunle Adeyemi on set of his TED lecture. Photo: TED
Kunle Adeyemi is the principal and founder of NLE – an Architectural and Urban Planning and Design firm with its headquarter in the Netherlands.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Adeyemi studied architecture at the University of Lagos where he began his early practice, before joining the world renowned Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in 2002. At OMA, working closely with founder Rem Koolhaas for nearly a decade, he led the design, development and execution of numerous projects in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Among these projects were the award winning Samsung Museum of Art, the Seoul National University Museum, NM Rothschild Bank in London, Shenzhen Stock Exchange tower in China, Prada Transformer in South Korea, Qatar National Library, Qatar Foundation Headquarters and the 4th Mainland Bridge and master plan in Lagos. Adeyemi was responsible for critical stages in design and realization of these projects. This involved leading OMA’s design team, coordinating a diverse global network of stakeholders and experts collaborators, including Arup for Engineering and Davis Langdon (AECOM) on cost matters.
The Qatar National Library – one of Adeyemi’s projects currently under construction in Doha, Qatar.
Adeyemi is was one of 5 members of the International Advisory Council for the World Design Capital 2014 being hosted by Cape Town, South Africa.
But this time, Adeyemi was not interested in high profile, luxurious solutions to human habitation and social needs. Adeyemi had a new and interesting preoccupation – sustainable, low cost habitations with far-reaching positive impact on the poorest of the populations using readily available building materials.
Although quantitatively different from place to place, the responsibility of achieving these needs at maximum, with minimum means, remains the same globally. I am constantly inspired by solutions we discover in everyday life in the world’s developing cities” — Kunlé Adeyemi, 2010
The poor inhabitants of Makoko are confronted with the hydra-headed challenge of flood during high tides, hygiene and a lack of basic social amenities.
A sustainable fishing community living in decent habitations away from the challenges of pollution, hygiene and driven by renewable energy is not impossible.
Adeyemi got to work!
The Makoko Floating School
The Floating School with canoes bringing children to school in the morning. Photo: NLE
The Lagos lagoon has highly varying tide levels. Most of the habitations are built on stilts which get overran by flood at high tide. The NLE team’s idea is a floating school, which rises and falls with the tide without disturbing human activities. Using 256 locally sourced plastic drums, Adeyemi made a floating base with sufficient buoyancy to support the three-story, 2,300-square-foot floating school for 100 students between the ages of 4 and 12.
Constructing the School base using discarded plastic drums.The base was made from 256 locally sourced plastic drums. Photo: NLE
Made almost entirely from wood sourced locally, the overall composition of the design is a triangular A-Frame section, with the classrooms located on the second tier. They are partially enclosed with adjustable louvered slats. The classrooms are surrounded by public green space, there is a playground below, and the roof contains an additional open air classroom. NLE has also employed strategies to make the floating architecture sustainable by applying PV cells to the roof and incorporating a rainwater catchment system. The structure is also naturally ventilated and aerated.
Construction in progress using the locally sourced wood. Photo: NLEThe floating school at sunset. Photo: NLE
The playground with its large space which is luxury in Makoko now hosts communal gatherings. Adeyemi’s architectural ideas are being adapted into everyday Makoko life.
A community shows are held on the platform made adapting Adeyemi’s architectural ideas. Photo: JournalPelicano
NLE’s Vision
For Adeyemi, a school was only just the beginning. He had a great vision of a waterfront community that is low-cost, sustainable, safe and energy efficient.The rooftops accommodate the solar panels which powers each housing unit. This means the poor inhabitants of Makoko too can keep their luxurious ancestral place, and this time bask in truly enviable waterfront luxury that is clean and attractive to tourists.
More mind-blowing perhaps is the fact that it could be mobile! The habitations can be moved if need be! And it can never be affected by flood since its a floating structure.
On concerns about the strength of the structure when wet, a confident Adeyemi replied with a smile,”There are some type of woods with even greater strength when wet than when dry”.
The envisioned mass water front housing solution comes with it patches of reclaimed “islands” with could provide vegetable and flower gardens as well as playground for children. It creates a mix of a perfectly green habitation. The plan includes floating administrative structures, floating shopping centres, police station, clinics, schools – think it; All sustained on renewable energy source. Navigation remains primarily by water with floating walkways for aligned structures.
The Lagos State government is yet to approve, support nor embrace this vision, sadly!
The Future Makoko
Global acknowledgement
NLE’s innovative approach has attracted global attention and won several architectural and urban planning award nominations including the Holcim Award for sustainable and affordable architectural solution. His work was also captured in the documentary series of most impressive architectural solutions,”Rebel Architecture” ran on Al-Jazeera International Television.
The Frenzy
Since the Makoko floating school, the architectural world has been awash with similar solutions of sustainable and affordable habitations made from locally available materials. Some of the notable architectural proposition include:
THE CHICOCO RADIO
Chicoco Radio is a floating media platform that will be built with and for the residents of the waterfront slum communities of Port Harcourt in Nigeria. The structure is conceived as a linear public space connecting land and water. Chicoco Radio will be the community’s voice and will include recording studios, a computer center, meeting rooms, cinema, and an amphitheater. Construction completed by NLE.
THE AIRBNB FLOATING HOUSE
A fully functioning floating house which set sail on May 22, 2015 in London on the Thames River.
GIANCARLO ZEMA WATERNEST HOME
Indeed, the young Nigerian has set off a huge innovation in sustainable, environmentally-friendly and affordable housing solution, the effect of which has come to stay and is already changing the world.
Unilever Plc has asked the in-coming administration in Lagos to ensure the business environment is more competitive towards improved ease of doing business in the state.
The Global Chief Executive Officer, Unilever, Paul Polman, who was speaking during a visit to the Lagos State governor-elect, Akinwunmi Ambode, in Lagos, said this would attract and encourage investors to the state.
Mr. Polman, who used the occasion to reaffirm Unilever’s continued commitment to Nigeria, said the company invested over 120 million Euros in the country in the last three years, apart from attracting about $80 mn Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) to the Nigerian economy.
He promised to continue to attract more FDIs to Nigeria, underlining the company’s commitment to growing business sustainably, while delivering innovative brands for Nigerian consumers.
“As we grow our business, we also want to showcase the huge business opportunities in Nigeria by inviting foreign investors to set up businesses in the country,” Mr. Polman said.
Unilever, Mr. Polman said, has already made laudable strides in attracting new businesses to the country through the ’Partner to Win’ Africa Investment Conference held last year.
The conference was attended by supplier representatives from across the world, alongside Unilever senior executives, to discuss investment opportunities and explore strategic partnerships.
“For us (Unilever), we will keep investing in Nigeria. We will also sustain efforts that attract other investors, because we understand that these will create value for the economy,” Mr. Polman said.
Although he acknowledged the challenges businesses face in the Nigerian environment, the Unilever boss stressed the need for greater drive to redress the bottlenecks and bureaucracies that translate into lost time, which discourage investors.
Highlighting the company’s re-investment to its operating community, Mr. Polman spoke about the Unilever Sustainability Living Plan (USLP), with evidence in key priority areas, including improved health and well-being of Nigerians, reducing environmental impact and enhancing the people’s general livelihood.
Fire disasters occur regularly in Lagos taking with it lives and properties. The upsurge seem to be in tandem with the endlessly growing population of the West African commercial capital city. Ubiquity of fire disasters is so broad it razes banks, offices, residential houses, open stores, fuel tankers… anything! Only a few dared face a raging fire. Only the firemen do! They are our unsung heroes.
However, the courageous men of the fire service, undaunted by the challenges of poor access road, fair wage compared to global remuneration for high risk jobs at the risk of losing their very lives brace the odd everyday.
Fire outbreak at Kotangora House, Marina, Lagos in April.
The Lagos state government inheriting moribund fire-fighting facilities, made a bold statement of retooling, re-equipping and re-kitting the Lagos state fire service making it without doubt the most efficient in Nigeria. Only few months ago, the state government handed over yet another 30 computerised fire trucks to the state fire service to enable it upgrade its operation. The equipment provided comprises twin aerial ladder and twin maintenance vans.
Incident after incident, challenge after challenge, not minding if the call to duty came in the day or night our firemen faced it all with renewed energy damning all consequences.
Additional state-of-art fire trucks supplied by the Lagos state government.
These state-of-the-art vans are reputed to move faster than the ones presently at the disposal of the state fire service and can better navigate difficult terrains/roads. The acquisition of these state-of-the-art trucks, which come with spare parts, is believed to have cost the state government billions of naira. Already some fire officers are said to have been sent for training to get acquainted with the usage of the new fire fighting system.
Photo: Akintunde Akinleye
Photo: Akintunde Akinleye
Photo: Akintunde Akinleye
Photo: Akintunde Akinleye
While these bold steps have been highly commendable, it is still insufficient for a state like Lagos with its population bursting at the seams. However, the courageous men of the fire service, undaunted by the challenges of poor access road, fair wage compared to global remuneration for high risk jobs at the risk of losing their very lives brace the odd everyday. Incident after incident, challenge after challenge, not minding if the call to duty came in the day or night our firemen faced it all with renewed energy damning all consequences.
These men of valour have saved several lives and billions of naira worth of properties. They are our unsung heroes.
They say necessity is the mother of invention and this is sure the case when it comes to 13 and 15 year old, Nigerian brothers Anesi and Osine Ikhianosime. Their necessity is their need for a faster mobile web browsing experience… because who wants to wait a few extra seconds for Google Chrome to load when you can build a better browser?
The dynamic coding duo are your ordinary African teenagers. They attend school in Greensprings school, Anthony Campus, Lagos. They love their friends, soccer, to have fun and coding, obviously.
The young problem solvers got tired of waiting for Google Chrome to load on their mobile phones, so decided to do something about it instead of complain. They decided to build a better mobile browser last year and called it Crocodile Browser Lite. It is currently live and ready for your download in the Google Play store right now.
Raised by parents who believe education and technology is very important to the lives of all, they were raised with high aspirations in mind. Their mother says they were able to use the computer before they know how to read and have always been fascinated with technology, creating, building and solving problems.
Anesi and Osine Ikhianosim
By the age of 7 & 9, the duo knew they wanted to start their own technology company. Inspired by Microsoft Windows platform, they decided to name their company “Doors”. However, later they discovered that the name was taken, so they changed it to Blu Doors”, which is still the current name of the company.
At the ages of 12 and 14, they decided to take on the task of learning how to code. They taught themselves, but had much encouragement, inspiration and access to computers from their school. They did take advantage of free resources. “I learnt to code by myself. I started in 2013, I used sites like Code Academy, Code Avenger and books like ‘Android for Game Development’ and ‘Games for Dummies,” said Anesi.
MIT: Their future plans are to attend MIT in the United States because they feel the educational opportunities, resources and access to technology are exactly what they need to positively impact the future as then intend.
The plan to create a better browser for low end featured phones is one that is needed for the developing world. While Chrome and other browsers work great on high end smart phones, the majority of the world are not using this technology and need a low-end option that still provides quick browsers response, so this is what the young men did. They built a better mouse trap for the phones they were using.
Crocodile Browser Lite 3.0 is already available in the Google Play store and something you should check out to give the young people support. They currently have over 5000 downloads of their browser within few weeks, and hope to see it grow in the near future.
The feedback and reviews in Google Play Store are even more encouraging of a greater prospect for brainchild.
Inspirational! I am a self-taught coder myself and I am a pioneer Android developer in my country, Papua New Guinea. I failed Computer Science twice but loved coding so much. I read your story from Dr. Farah and I am truely inspiried! Well Done!! – Shadrach Jaungere
Very good first start Read about this in an article and decided to give it a try. UI can be better, but it is blazing fast. Congrats on it and I look forward to updates that will improve the user experience! –Rick Cooper
Unreal! Amazing…you guys put the seasoned pros to shame. Fantastic job. This thing is lighting! – Justin Fisher
With about 300 5-star ratings, the future looks brigth for the Ikhianosime double.
Their future plans are to attend MIT in the United States because they feel the educational opportunities, resources and access to technology are exactly what they need to positively impact the future as then intend.
In 2003, the quest to have a signature edifice to identify the skylines of Nigeria and Abuja particularly with gave birth to the Millenium Towers. Conceived by Nigeria’s prolific then-Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mallam Nasir Elrufai.
The Design for The Millennium Towers and the Nigeria National Complex Photo: D-Review
At 170 metres (560 ft), the tower would be the tallest structure in Nigeria. The tower was designed by Manfredi Nicoletti, an award winning architect of global acclaim. Among his most popular works includes the Italian Parliament Conference Centre, Roma (2002).
The Millennium Tower design also included the Nigeria National Complex which includes the Nigeria Cultural Centre and Municipal Building.
In 2006, the ground was broken. The bulldozers roared into life and construction began.
The construction of Nigeria tallest edifice had begun; standing a whooping 170 metres (560 feet) ahead of:
Independence House, Lagos – 103m completed in 1960
Intercontinental Hotels, Lagos – 100m completed in 2013.
The Millenium Tower under construction with the National Cultural Complex in the background. Photo: SkyscraperCity
The initial completion deadline was 2010 ahead of Nigeria’s Independence Golden Jubilee.The completion has since been twice reviewed; first to 2011 to mark the 20th Anniversary of Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory, then to 2015. There are fresh concerns that the new target might be missed again with oil prices at its lowest for nearly a year, completing this edifice might not be a priority project for the new government.
Dedicated to the art and nature of Nigeria, the complex is being developed on an area over 170,000sqm. It will feature the Nigeria Cultural Centre and the National Square where the Millennium Tower and Municipal Building will be located.
Abuja, the only African developed capital city in the world is gradually taking its place among the most modern cities in Africa and the world.
The tower consists of three cylindrical concrete pillar-like structures varying in height and linked together near the towers first peak using a disc shaped section which will house in its two floors, an observation decks and a restaurant where visitors will be able to enjoy spectacular views of the city below while they eat. Around the pillars of the tower three transparent stainless steel wings wrapped delicately but protectively around the base of the tower and gradually open outwards in a fan like fashion as they extend up the height of the tower.
The Disc, an elegance in the sky! Photo: SkyscraperCity
The Cultural Centre will include the Museum of the Millenary Nigerian Art, a Hotel, and a 1200 seat Auditorium. On the adjacent lot, the 170m tall Millenium Tower will dominates the ‘National Square’. The Cultural Centre and the Millenium Tower, separated by a road carrying heavy city traffic, will be linked by an underground Commercial Arcade. The large roof of the Cultural Centre covers 16,500sqm. It is made up of a reinforcing strip at the edges and a central part consisting of a light steel and glass structure with high tension cupola curvature geometrically modelled by the meeting of the three Flat Saddle domes.
With the National edifice standing tall and near completion, Nigerians shall soon have the chance to peek from the nation’s structural peak – The Abuja Millennium Towers.
The Disc Photo: SkyscraperCity
This National edifice will add to the growing list of landmarks structures doting the landscape of the capital city – The National Assembly, National Mosque, National Ecumenical Centre, World Trade Centre (under construction), National Library and Civic Centre (under construction) and so many more. Abuja, the only African developed capital city in the world is gradually taking its place among the most modern cities in Africa and the world.
With the National edifice standing tall and near completion, Nigerians shall soon have the chance to peek from the nation’s structural peak – The Abuja Millennium Towers.
Nigerians shall soon have the chance to peek from the nation’s structural peak – The Abuja Millennium Towers. Photo: SkyscraperCity
In furtherance of its efforts to to harness the economic potentials of tourism, thereby enhancing its contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, the Lagos State Government, partnered with the Nigerian Conservative Foundation, NCF to construct the longest canopy walkway on the continent. It is located in the Lekki Conservation Centre, LCC, Ibeju-Lekki, in Nigeria’s most populous city, Lagos.
The Lekki Conservation Centre, Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) is one of Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) foremost conservation project site. Located on the renowned Lekki Peninsula, LCC covers a land area of 78 hectare. Administratively, LCC is situated in Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The canopy walkway at the LCC
The Lekki Conservation Centre, LCC is a conservation initiative to protect wildlife found in southwest coastal environment of Nigeria in the face of sprawling urban development. This 21-year-old conservation education centre has continued to attract both local and international interests. The Centre has served, as an education and resource centre to varieties of group’s majority of which are schools and tourists.
The project has promoted environmental protection and worked against poaching by surrounding communities as well as serve as a tourist centre for local and international visitors. Continuous environmental education, awareness creation and research activities are carried out in the Reserve.
This new effort further consolidates the position of the LCC as a foremost conservation and tourist centre on the African continent. The LCC canopy walkway, built with metal pillars, is the main attraction to the destination, which is the latest innovation to the tourism sector of the country. The aerial foot bridge is 401 metres long, 0.6 meters wide and 22.5 metres high, making it the longest canopy walkway in Africa! The LCC canopy walkway also doubles as the second-longest in the world after the Taman Negara National Park Canopy Walkway in Malaysia which stretches 500 metres. Other long canopy walks in Africa include Kakum National Park Canopy walkway, Central Region, Ghana – 350m and the Afi Mountain Canopy Walk, Cross River State, Nigeria.
Fashola on a maiden experience on the Lekki Conservation Centre Canopy walkway, the longest in Africa. Credits: Nairaland
The reason for the innovation, Fashola, the Lagos State Governor explained was aimed “to keep tourism in the country and to reduce what we spend outside the country, looking for destinations to relax and recreates by keeping those within the country. This is our contribution as a government to reduce the level of foreign exchange. If we spend the money we spend elsewhere in the country, it will help boost the country’s economy.”
The Kakum National Park Canopy Walk in Central Ghana is the second-longest in Africa – 350m long.
The Afi Mountain Canopy walkway, third longest in Africa also located in Cross River state in Southern Nigeria.
The longest canopy walkway in the world at the Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia.
Speaking further, he said: “Our investment in tourism is not accidental. It was a well thought out vision and it explains our investment in transportation, on a very expansive base. It is the bases for the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, for choosing the blue-line of the seven rail project that the state government will commit to.
“This was because over 60 kilometers of coastal waterfront of the Atlantic Ocean is on the Badagry axis. There will be no tourism without transportation. It is about destination and if people cannot get to the location, there will be no tourism. So the expansion of the Lekki-Epe Expressway is all for tourist based initiative,” he added.
Fashola also inspecteded other recreational facilities at the centre including the biggest Checkers game board in the country and perhaps in Africa.
This article is dedicated to all those Ghanaians who went to Nigeria in search of a better life between 1978 and the second “Ghana Must Go” in 1985. You saw the very best of Nigeria and no matter what happened to you then, or later, you will never forget your time in that country!
Some people say it was the “constro” boys who went first and came back home with the good news. Others say it was the trained teachers (Cert A holders) who went first, started teaching in secondary schools there and came back on holidays and took along their brothers and friends who are graduates. Still others maintain that Ghanaians had been travelling to Nigeria since goodness knows when. There were vehicles that made the long journey from Kumasi or Accra to Lagos. Long before our independence, Anlo fishermen and traders piled themselves into trucks setting forth from Keta into the wilds of Nigeria. The journey took the whole day. Nigeria was far away, very far away indeed.No matter where the truth lies, one thing is certain. The great movement of Ghanaians to Nigeria in search of a better life would not happen until after 1975. Prior to that, nobody left Ghana to settle in Nigeria because Ghana was not good enough for him. There have always been ties between individual Ghanaians and Nigerians with inter-marriages meaning some Ghanaians moved to settle in Nigeria. But nobody left Ghana to escape economic hardships. Not until the mid-70s.
The largest chunk of the economic migrants from Ghana to Nigeria made their moves between 1978 and 1981 or thereabouts. By 1982, Lagos was full of Ghanaians from all walks of life.
The largest chunk of the economic migrants from Ghana to Nigeria made their moves between 1978 and 1981 or thereabouts. By 1982, Lagos was full of Ghanaians from all walks of life. They ranged from university lecturers (and students), medical officers, political refugees, through secondary school teachers to our boys working on construction sites and our girls selling bread in the “go slow” on the highway leading out of Lagos to Abeokuta. They rushed to the slow moving vehicles peddling what they called “Ghana bread”. (Some of the Yoruba didn’t like this bread complaining that there was too much sugar in it. Yes, much of Ghanaian bread contains too much sugar. If there is not too much sugar, then there is too much salt!) Some of our girls chose the easy way out and betook themselves to the houses of ill-repute where they plied their damnable trade.
By the 70s, the journey now took only a few hours from Accra to Lagos. If you liked, you made the “short-short” one by taking a vehicle to Aflao, crossing the border on foot, taking a taxi to the station near Asigame (Grand Marché) in Lomé, where you took one of the Peugeot “caravans” straight to the Badagry border where another vehicle took you into Lagos. You could also take a vehicle from Cotonou and make it to the old port of Porto Novo (Xogbonu) and enter Nigeria at Idiroko which was the border crossing before the huge Badagry border was rebuilt as the main entry point. The Idiroko to Lagos road was still called the “Old Ghana Road” when we were there.
Lagos looked big to you. Much of it was like a huge construction site. This was the time when foreign companies like Julius Berger were building flyovers, overhead bridges, and motorways all over the place.
For the Ghanaian making the journey by road to Lagos for the first time, it was a real experience. Once you cleared the Badagry border and was on your way on the dual carriage to Lagos, you knew you were somewhere far away from Accra. Lagos looked big to you. Much of it was like a huge construction site. This was the time when foreign companies like Julius Berger were building flyovers, overhead bridges, and motorways all over the place.
Central Lagos
Even though Ghanaians could be found in every state, most of them were in the Yoruba speaking states which are geographically nearest to Ghana. The Yoruba are one of the largest of Nigeria’s more than 250 ethnic groups. There are far more Yoruba than there are Ghanaians of all tribes worldwide! Most of the Nigerians who lived among us in Ghana before the Aliens Compliance Order (ACO) were Yoruba. They were the ones we called Alatafuo or Anago and when we went to them, they also called us Omo Ghana (no offence meant, none was taken either). So the Ghanaian connection with the Yoruba, in particular, is a long one. Some versions of Ewe history even trace the origins of the Ewe to a place called Ketu in Yorubaland. In the early 80s, in places like Ogbomosho, Ejigbo, Osogbo, Ilesha, one could still meet those Yoruba who had lived in Ghana before ACO and who still spoke fluent Twi, Fante, Ewe or Ga. They were proud to display their knowledge of these languages, having quite put behind them the bitterness that surrounded their painful and sudden departure (the munko munko or ACO) from Ghana.
The years around 1980 marked the most dizzying heights of Nigeria’s oil-fired economy. The oil money was flowing through everybody’s fingers and some of us were there to partake of the goodies. They accepted us so long as there was something for everybody.
Every Ghanaian who went there got some kind of job. Teachers were in high demand. It was very easy for the Ghanaian teacher to fit into the Nigerian classroom. Because WAEC gave us all the same GCE syllabus, Ghanaian teachers found themselves teaching exactly the same things they were teaching in Ghana. Maths, Science and English teachers were especially in high demand. The greatest need for teachers was in the states controlled by the UPN which were implementing free education – the type Akufo-Addo is promising us. The UPN was then led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the revered Yoruba leader. (I have, sometimes, wondered if there is some resemblance between him and Akufo-Addo that goes beyond their old style round metal-rimmed glasses.) Secondary schools were built in all towns and villages and students went straight from primary school to these schools without any exams.
The years around 1980 marked the most dizzying heights of Nigeria’s oil-fired economy. The oil money was flowing through everybody’s fingers and some of us were there to partake of the goodies.
It was not that there were no Nigerians who could teach their children. The economy was so good that Nigerian university graduates looked down on the teaching job. They easily got higher paying jobs in industry or obtained generous state or federal government scholarships to pursue advanced studies in foreign universities. Ghanaians readily took their places and acquitted themselves well. Indeed, there will come a time, (if that time is not even now) when a crop of prominent Nigerians can proudly say that some of their best teachers in secondary school were Ghanaians. They will be referring to that time, around the 80s, when so many Ghanaians taught so many Nigerians.
The (Nigerian) economy was so good that Nigerian university graduates looked down on the teaching job.
Everything was very cheap in this country. What we had then called “essential commodities” in Ghana were anything but essential in Agege (the name of the Lagos suburb that, in Ghana, became used for the entire country). Blue Band Margarine, which had ceased to exist in Ghana, was available at every roadside seller’s. Beer was one naira for the premier brands of Star and Gulder – brands that we had known from Ghana. The big bottle of Guinness, Odekun, (which was unavailable in Ghana) went for 1.30 naira and the little bottle (kekere) made you poorer by a mere 70 kobo. Semovita cost 80 kobo a kilo. We did not even have Semovita in Ghana then. Sardines and Geisha (which Nigerians looked down upon but were favourite items in Ghana, the lack of which can cause governments to be overthrown) were all over the place selling cheaply. During the Christmas season, imports were increased bringing down the prices of items across the board. In Ghana price increases were particularly notable during the Christmas season.
The naira was equivalent to the pound and fetched you more than a dollar!
Those Ghanaians who went to Nigeria before 1980 saw the very best of the country, economically. In some states, graduate teachers were given car loans in cash! You took your 3,000 naira, went to a car dealer and drove away with your brand new locally assembled VW “beetul”. It cost you less than 3,000 naira so you had something left over to buy petrol and drinks to celebrate your first new car with your friends – to “wash” the car, as it were. In the early 80s, a graduate teacher’s monthly pay of 360 naira was enough to buy you a return ticket to the UK. That was before the Thatcher government brought in visa requirements for Ghanaians and Nigerians. Those Ghanaians daring enough went on holidays in Britain. The naira was equivalent to the pound and fetched you more than a dollar!
Some State governments in Nigeria even pay up to N3,ooo in cash to graduates to purchase their VW Beetle manufactured in Nigeria then.
This was also the time Ghanaians would tell jokes about the newcomer who went to the wayside chop bar and asked for 50 kobo rice and 50 kobo meat and the seller woman looked at him with surprise. He insisted on his order and when he was served, there was no way he, alone, could eat it all that much food. He thought the naira was like the cedi he had left behind in Ghana.At the beginning of each academic year, the now defunct West Africa Magazine published long lists of Nigerian scholarship winners who would be going to universities in Europe and North America to study obscure subjects in the sciences and technology. It was as if the states were competing with each other to see which of them could send the greatest numbers of their citizens on scholarships abroad. And each year, we would look at these lists with a tinge of envy. Our country could not afford to give us similar privileges.
Oshodi in the early 1980s
The daily newspapers were bumper affairs of 48-60 pages at a time when our flagship national daily, Daily Graphic, was still running 16 pages in tiny print. There were even broadsheets, something we had never seen in Ghana before. A few of the numerous newspapers really had quality stuff. The newly established Lagos Guardian attracted articles from some of the country’s greatest brains – Wolé Soyinka, Niyi Osundare, Kole Omotoso, Chinweinzu. Then came the newsmagazine, Newswatch, modelled on Time Magazine and better than anything we ever had in Ghana. On its staff were some of the country’s best journalists including Dele Giwa who was murdered by a mail bomb during Babangida’s reign of terror. There were several television and radio stations at a time when Ghana still had only one television channel and one national broadcaster and we had never heard of FM broadcasting. Naija movies were not available then.
The Ghanaian immigrant felt completely at home. Ghana was not too far away and you could visit home for the weekend. We settled. We started enjoying the food, the beer, the women and the music. Oh, the music, especially Yoruba music. Because of Juju music’s roots in highlife, it was easy for Ghanaians to take on and like that music. Moreover, some of us still remembered the time when the Yoruba lived among us in Ghana and played lots of the music of the accordion playing I. K. Dairo. They may have played the music of Haruna Ishola too.
Sunny Ade’s “Synchro System” was irrestible to even Ghanaians living in Nigeria in the late 70s to early 80s.
The 80s marked the heights of the careers of King Sunny Adé with his velvety voice (Gboromiro; Synchrooo … synchro system) and “Shief” Commander Ebenezer Obey and his evergreen, forever and forever wedding song: Eto gbeyawo laye t’Oba Oluwa mi file le, pelu aseni… (What God has joined togedaa let no man put asondaaa…). Fuji, Apala and Sakara music are more difficult for Ghanaians to absorb. They are more traditionally based with Islamic roots. But if you live in a place where you hear a certain music type being played over and over again, and see the people cooing over it, you cannot help but get infected yourself. That is why many of us will never forget names like the late Alhaji Sikuru Ayindé Barrister, Kollington Ayinla, or Mama Salawa Abeni. Today, Fuji music has morphed into the Yoruba variant of hip-hop. But for those of us who were there in the early 80s, it is the music of Sunny Adé (is there any musician who has sung his way into the hearts of the Yoruba more than this man who has so many wonderful tracks you won’t know which ones to choose as your favourites?) and Ebenezer Obey (who is now into gospel music having also fallen victim to the excessive religiosity that is now afflicting many parts of Africa) that we have continued to enjoy long after we left the country even if we do not understand all the mgbati mgbati.
Parties were lavish and enjoyable!
Then things started getting bad. Many of us saw the signs very early because we had seen similar signs in Ghana. Salary delays had started. Contracts were not being renewed. It was becoming more difficult to get jobs. Prices were going up. Some construction works were being terminated midway. Remittances through the banks were becoming more difficult to get as the black market rates of the naira started running away from the official rates.
They did not sack us from their country. We had survived “Ghana Must Go” 1 and 2. We left on our own when they relieved us of our teaching jobs. It was difficult to get new jobs. We packed our things and went away, leaving behind so many grieving students and, in town, a few lovers with broken hearts. Our hearts, too, were broken. But we had to move on. Those who were too old to brave the journey to another part of the world returned to Ghana and went back to the teaching service or whatever else they were doing before the Agege craze. Many of the young ones came back to Ghana only to re-saddle and set forth again. Some of the “constro” boys, ever the most daring, took the desert road to Gaddafi’s Libya. Some of them lost their lives on the way. Some of us came to Europe. Others went to North America. There were those who made it to other African countries like South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, or any country willing to accept them. Anywhere else was better than the difficult days of Rawlings’ military Ghana. No matter where we found ourselves after the Nigerian adventure, it was the money we had put by while working in that country that helped us to start our new lives.
Sardine, available everywhere in Nigeria was huge luxury back then in Ghana.
Today, it is said that more than half of Nigeria’s 160 million people live on less than two dollars a day. The naira is now 150 to a dollar. The largest note is 1,000 naira (equivalent to 12 ghc). A proposal to print 5,000 naira bills was dropped. Another to re-denominate the naira was also discarded. A bottle of Guinness is around 300 naira and Semovita is 250 (na kekere bi dat o). The molue conductors at Oshodi are no longer shouting: “Enter with your ten ten kobo – 50 kobo one naira no change”. That belongs to a time in the distant past. The trip now costs 100 naira.
Nigerians are finding it difficult to exist on their monthly salaries. Many have voted with their feet and for some, even Ghana is better to live in. To be sure, though the Nigerian economy may not be riding the giddy Olympian heights of the late 70s, it has never descended into the gutters that the Ghanaian economy found itself in the same period. But the best is over and many Nigerians will give an arm to have the economic conditions of the seventies and early eighties back – those very conditions that made their country so irresistible to so many Ghanaians.
The molue conductors at Oshodi are no longer shouting: “Enter with your ten ten kobo – 50 kobo one naira no change”. That belongs to a time in the distant past. The trip now costs 100 naira.
Yes, there are Nigerians who are crooks, cheats, bandits, religious fanatics and what have you and the country does seem to have a bit more than its fair share of such elements. But the fact still remains that MOST ordinary Nigerians are honest, peace loving, God-fearing, very resourceful and friendly people. You have to live in the country to see these ones whom we do not hear much about. You can also ask the thousands of Ghanaians still living there. And, oh, the country itself is, actually, really beautiful.
For many of us, since Nigeria was our first foray outside our native land, the country remains special to us. We still have fond memories of all those wonderful years we spent there. How can we forget? I have not been back there since I left 26 years ago. I very much want to visit and walk the old paths again. What a wistful experience that will be!
January, 2015 | Nigeria – Last year, Nigeria became Africa’s largest economy with a GDP of $522.64 billion in the country’s 2014 Q3 release; this decidedly put the country on the top list of investors both local and international. But to avid real estate investors, that isn’t the really amazing news; the year 2014 witnessed an expansion of Nigeria’s retail market on a large scale.
Festival Mall, Festac, Lagos
This is evident in the revolution of the real estate market especially with the influx of shopping malls and complexes. The advent of these malls have redefined Nigeria’s shopping culture and nuances of the consumers in both upper class and emerging middle class.
According to Japie Stewart, Resilient Africa’s Chief Operating Officer, the potential of the Nigerian real estate market is vast, unlimited and relatively immature. Let’s talk about recent additions in the retail market:
Delta Mall, Warri, Delta.
Enter Delta Mall. A unique idea established in Delta state, specifically at the Effurun roundabout. I refer to it as unique because it is not set in the major cities like Abuja and Lagos. There are untapped resources in other parts of the country and Delta Mall proves this with its modern facilities such as public toilets, maximum parking lots, an elevator and a fully air-conditioned structure. Shopping is invariably made beautiful and easy!
Ado Bayero Mall, Kano
Another addition to the retail market is the Ado Bayero Mall in Kano. It is the largest shopping mall in Nigeria and was successfully opened in March 2014 despite the security issues in the state. After Lagos, Kano is the largest city with a population of approximately 9.3million. Shoprite which is an anchor at the Ado Bayero Mall now has nine outlets in the country.
Consumers all around Nigeria have redefined their lifestyle as a result of the advent of shopping malls. Inhabitants of Abuja, Lagos, Delta Port Harcourt and Kano are enjoying the surge of finesse in their regions.
Purplestone Mall
In a related development, the PurpleStone Mall located in the bustling Apo area of Abuja was opened last year by the Beverly & Sam Properties, a firm of property developers. Abuja- Nigeria’s capital city- with a growing population of 2.2 million is said to have the highest per capita income in Nigeria and according to a recent study on the city’s consumer spend, there are over 68,000 households in the city with annual expenditure of over $150,000 per household.
The Purplestone Mall is targeted at meeting the needs of the lower class, with wares of affordable price. The vision of the mall is to provide first class and affordable housing infrastructure for residential and commercial purposes.
Agbakoba, legal adviser to the company said they’re set to expand Purplestone brand into different cities like Asaba, Abeokuta, Lafia etc. Some benefits like 24-hour security services, waste management, water supply and parking spots are available to shop owners in the mall.
Benin City Mall
The recent boost in the retail market has also given rise to opportunities for business owners to launch their businesses on a large and exotic scale. Nigerians, looking for conducive and comfortable places to shop will have no problem with the influx of shopping malls in different cities in Nigeria.
Ford’s expansion plans in the Middle-East and Africa will see the facelifted Ford Ranger T6 being built in Ikeja, Nigeria from the fourth quarter of 2015 onwards. The American brand will work together in partnership with Coscharis Motors Limited, a major Ford dealer in Nigeria, on the project.
The plant at Ikeja will have an annual production capacity of 5,000 units, and Ford says the pick-ups assembled there will serve the demand of the local Nigerian market. Currently, the Ranger is also manufactured in Ford’s South African plant, one of the three facilities where it is being built.
POSITIVE NIGERIA 