Travel | Lagos, Nigeria + 50 Things to Do

Hello loves,

I think I can call myself a Lagosian, based on how frequent I am in the city and how well I engage with the tourist attractions. My Lagos friends would beg to differ. All the same, this post hits close to home, literally. I am of Nigerian descent and I love every aspect of being Nigerian, except the odd orientation and sometimes near obsession with anything and everything patriarchal (Yoruba families give the girls more responsibility with chores while allowing the boys leeway, igbo families won't stop procreating till they have a son, let me not get started on the victim shaming of rape victims).

Lagos is a bit more cosmopolitan and by extension a bit more liberal (some parts), so I can woman as I want (again, in some parts).

I love visiting Lagos. Oya let me leave this grammar. The gbas gbos, the laughter, the beautiful disaster (as I like to call it). The chaos, the hustle. If you like to people watch (I mean this almost loosely, as there really aren't benches to sit on) this is a city for you. Lagos is a fast-paced, eat or be eaten society. I could write a thesis on the extreme juxtaposition of rich and poor and the want of a middle class in such a convoluted yet stratified society. Let me not get started on the growing foreign presence in many business sectors of Lagos, in true Neo-colonialist taste. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.

I won't go much into the things I do or did in Lagos, as this city is home for me & I would be here for ages just typing and typing, haha. I would move back, if the price is right. It fits my lifestyle, my friends live there, and I could definitely see myself "thriving" in the society as it were. I will let my "50 things to Do", which I pretty much wrote from the top of my head (lagos friends, I need my accolades), do the talking :)

If you have any questions about places to stay, etc during your visit, please reach out to me, the Lagos expert.  I think I will also add a Do's and Don'ts as Lagos is especially strict on silly rules, while lax on the extremely important ones. see what I mean about beautiful chaos?

Save me for later!