savoy064

Moses' Ten Commandments scribbled in Yoruba on the wall of the African Church Cathedral Bethel on Broad Street. Even Moses (pictured below receiving the laws on the cathedral's bronze door) wouldn't have guessed how far reaching his revelation in Hebrew would go. 

Here lies Chief Daniel Conrad Taiwo, a Lagos immigrant who was famed to have entered the city in 1848 of humble origins but who became a successful businessman that the appellation Olowo (rich one) got added to his name. I met several area boys at the tomb as I only stumbled upon it during one of my recent treks around the Lagos Island on Marina Street (it's amazing what one can experience while not riding in a car). I became friends with the boys and they allowed me to photograph even sharing stories of the island with me. The chief died in 1901 and is buried in the monument above.

Saw these beautiful geese at the Freedom Park last weekend where I had gone to do a pre-wedding photo shoot for my friends. They walked slowly and majestically, not fearing the humans around, to the fountain and sipped through the water for food. Cool stuff.

Had a recent interview with Blufunk singer Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu) at the Southern Sun Hotel in Ikoyi. We had earlier met at a performance by Duro Ikujenyo and agreed to an interview on his short trip to Lagos. The singer's been soaking up some West African influence for his next album and he took me down the memory lane; the birth of his music, the influence of identity and his hopes for new Nigerian music to break through to the European and American mainstream. A few weeks ago he was harassed by French police after alighting from a tarin in Paris. I broke that news online after getting it from his Facebook page. I hope his music makes bigger waves at home like it has in the West.

Last year I was selected to represent Nigeria in the groundbreaking online reality show  Bud House sponsored by Budweiser during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We were 32 people who had never met but one thing that we had in common was that we were all football fanatics. So we stayed in this place called Shelley Point, three hours outside of Cape Town, throughout the show as the world watched us online. We had opportunities to go to the stadium in Cape Town to see matches live while the eventual final teams had their representatives at the final game in Johannesburg. Spain's Amanda had the honour of presenting the player of the tournament award to Andres Iniesta. One year onwards, we still feel like a family. It feels like I have family all over the world. It was a beautiful exchange of cultures and we learnt so much from each other. On our last day in the house a reporter from The Sowetan asked about my impression of the show. I told him that for me it was more ab...

Rain floods have taken over many parts of the metropolis and many people went to work this morning having to wade across once tiny streams. Here at Akute-Lambe on the Lagos-Ogun border, I shot images of residents going to work and school on the Lagos side knee deep in flood waters.

During my recent trip from Port Harcourt I rode on G. Agofure Motors, the big transport company out of Warri. Their service was impressive and I'm glad to say that for a Nigerian company. The mini bus from PH had a little fault on the way to Effurun and the driver radioed ahead to have the bus replaced. Pronto it was done as soon as we got to their HQ in Effurun where the new driver held us spellbound with his Waffi jokes all the way to Lagos. With a fleet of over five hundred vehicles, founder Godwin Agofure employs thousands of people in his transport, hotel and filling station chains in the Niger Delta region. This is a kudos to a man of vision. Having flown the first leg to PH, it was great traveling back by road all through the heart of the Niger Delta where I saw out of the window my old primary school in Benin City. Ivbiotor Primary School has been abandoned because of the incessant flooding that occurs around the Dumez Junction on Sapele Road. Perhaps one da...