an arty Saturday in Lagos with author and publisher Toni Kan

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to Lagos

Lagos’s arteries are clogged from Monday to Friday. Workers commuting to and from work, mostly from the mainland to the island, must set forth at dawn and return, sometimes not until midnight. This is why Saturdays and Sundays are often packed with social activities that make Lagos one of the bubbliest cities in the world. 

I’m a publisher of a literary magazine (thelagosreview.ng), a PR executive and biographer to the rich, so weekends offer me an opportunity to unwind, connect and meet clients outside the frenetic office environment, as well as visiting art galleries and studios, and attending literary and cultural events.

My Saturdays begin early and close very late because I have to fit everything in before the city starts to wheeze again from the emphysema that afflicts it from Monday.

I am not big on breakfasts, so my Saturday morning usually begins with black coffee and honey at home. This routine changes if I have an early-morning business appointment on Victoria Island, in which case breakfast takes place at The Orchid Bistro in Ikoyi. The café, which advertises itself as “serving breakfast all day”, is famous for its full English. It is well situated right in the heart of Ikoyi but off the notoriously busy Awolowo Road. You can dine inside or alfresco style because in Lagos, it’s always summer — except when it rains.

Breakfast and meeting done, it’s time to socialise and work, which usually means making the rounds of art galleries where I can take in ongoing or new exhibitions. I keep a firm finger on the pulse of the Lagos arts ecosystem by discovering new artists and attending book readings or movie premieres. Depending on what is showing, I could visit the Rele, O’da, Tiwani or Nike art galleries. Nike, located in Lekki outside the Ikoyi/Victoria Island hub is a social nexus, as artists and art lovers from within and outside the country drop by usually for a chance to grab a selfie with the owner, Nike Okundaye, aka Mama Nike, who is always elegantly turned out.

Rele Gallery, which started life on Military Street in Onikan, has moved to a more tony location on Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, with large grounds and enough space to host not just art exhibitions but also book readings. There is always something going on. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, it has become one of the most celebrated galleries in Nigeria thanks to its annual Young Contemporaries programme, which has introduced new artists and also spawned a new set of young, upwardly mobile collectors.

Lunch is often a choice between Terra Kulture or Yellow Chilli in Victoria Island. It’s Yellow Chilli if I have a client who wants to discuss business, but if I’m alone, my default is Terra Kulture. Set up by Bolanle Austen-Peters, a lawyer who has morphed into a multi-hyphenated creative powerhouse, Terra Kulture is a one-stop shop. You could eat and have a drink here, browse through their bookstore, see an art exhibition and then watch a play. 

At Terra Kulture, lunch for me is always jollof rice, dodo (fried plantain) and grilled fish washed down with my special cocktail of Star lager and Fanta. For those with a palate for spicy food, the ofada rice or peppered goat meat hits the spot. Lunch in Lagos or Nigeria as a whole is never a hurried affair. Usually the main meal of the day, it is the time to eat and drink and chit-chat, and because it is Terra Kulture you never know who could walk in — an artist, a movie star or a bank CEO — and what conversations could ensue. 

Lunch done, I might visit more galleries, especially if I am interested in writing a review. But once I drive out of Victoria Island, I will make a stop at Angels and Muse, an arts space founded by my good friend, the writer and globally acclaimed artist Victor Ehikhamenor, and then Jazzhole, the eternally hip and bohemian book and music store on Awolowo Road. It is where Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage filmed her NPR tiny desk concert.

In the 1990s when the internet wasn’t a thing, Jazzhole was where you went to order the latest novel by Toni Morrison or Salman Rushdie or Ben Okri. I am eternally confounded by the fact that it has continued to thrive in the age of Amazon.

In any case, my visits these days are not for books but to buy vintage vinyl. Isolated and alone during the pandemic, I bought a turntable mostly because it helped with mobility, as one needed to get up to change the record over. Jazzhole is where I go to get my fix of 1970s musical nostalgia — from Fela Kuti to Spyro Gyra, Betty Wright to Donna Summer, and Prince Nico Mbarga to William Onyeabor. To begin your treasure hunt, just hunker down and pray to the gods of serendipity!

A good Saturday always ends with a drink. A business meeting will have me repair to Ikoyi Club 1938, where I have been a member since 2009 — we can chat over drinks and suya (fresh savoury-beef jerky). A members-only club since 1938, it offers exclusivity with a dash of snobbery. I love to have my business meetings there because my clients are usually members too. Another option would be Nordic Hotel on Victoria Island, which has a lovely poolside terrace that is ideal for dining or wining. There are also books to browse or read while you wait for your guest. And if my company has a sweet tooth, there’s Cactus restaurant on Ozumba Mbadiwe. You can savour their desserts with the sea breeze in your face.

If I am alone, I’ll drive to Freedom Park because you are always sure to meet a friend or two who will invite you to their table or join yours — in Lagos, it is almost taboo to drink alone. A former colonial prison, it was converted into a cultural hub by architect Theo Lawson. 

On a good evening, you can walk around the expansive grounds, work or chill in the lounge, catch a stage play, enjoy an art exhibition, sway and dance to a concert, listen to a poetry or book reading or just sit in the food court and imbibe. And for younger and adventurous folk, the WAF Skatepark with its echoes of the Southbank in London, is a good place to spend your Saturday skateboarding and getting your adrenaline rush on.

When I host a visiting foreign writer or journalist, there will almost always be a request to go to the New Afrika Shrine performance space on the mainland, which was built by Fela Kuti’s family in honour of his original Afrika Shrine venue. If in luck, they will catch Fela’s sons — Seun if it’s the last Saturday of the month, or Femi on Thursdays and Sundays, if he is not away on tour.

At the Shrine, you can immerse yourself in the real Afrobeat music without that irksome “s”.

Toni Kan is an author, journalist, PR executive and biographer, and has been hailed “Mayor of Lagos”

Tell us about your perfect Saturday in Lagos in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter

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