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Shopping spree in Lagos as malls finally arrive in Nigeria
Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Sunday April 15, 2007



Nigeria's middle class can now enjoy retail therapy closer to home.
In the old days, for some, going shopping in Nigeria meant going to London.

Now Nigerians, at least in Lagos, can go to the country's first shopping mall and parade past air-conditioned shops of clothes and jewellery, or sit in a coffee shop, sipping a latte or cappuccino. The centrepiece is a South African Shoprite supermarket - again Nigeria's first - where the middle classes can buy ordinary things such as biscuits and pre-packed beef.

Not far away, on the edge of the street, are the old shops - open-air markets where women sit with little piles of tomatoes or onions on the ground in front of them. Nearby, in the open air hang slabs of meat feasted on by flies. Until a few years ago, these markets and a few family stores were all that was available as shops.

Elements of the old Nigeria are still visible at the Palms Mall. The Shoprite manager, Andrew Mweemba, complains that containers of perishables regularly get held up at the port. The local electricity supply is too unreliable, so the whole mall is powered by generators, which puts prices up. But, says Mweemba, they are hitting their targets and controlling costs.


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AdvertisementThey are planning several other malls in what must be one of the last countries in the world to enjoy retail services the rest of the human race take for granted. This is probably the most visible sign of a new Nigeria, a country that is becoming more in tune with the rest of the planet. Its cause is the growth of a young middle class, many of whom have returned from London or New York to work in the booming financial services industry.

The Nigerian "Big Bang" started in 2001 with a free auction for Nigeria's mobile phone licences. Stung by a global reputation for corruption and fraud, President Olusegun Obasanjo's government started to reform the banks, reducing their number from 89 to 25, and supporting businesses that wanted to do things according to international standards.

In the old days Nigerian business people were simply agents, getting contracts from the state or acting for foreign companies. Nigeria produced little except oil and gas, and its exceedingly rich elite stayed rich because of connections, not competence.

Osaze Osifo, 39, who worked for HSBC in London, is typical of the new generation. He and six other Nigerian professionals are setting up a US$300m ($407m) equity fund in cool, glass-panelled offices with a view across the lagoon and out to sea. They have international businessmen on to their board to make sure everything is done in accordance with international business practice.

"It is not just local people and people coming back from overseas," he explains. "Nigeria is where it is at. The hotels are full, and the merchant banks are beginning to arrive." What encouraged people like him to return was the business space opened up by the economic reforms. Obasanjo picked a business-minded team to run the economy and the national bank, and appointed a brave young police officer to run the anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Its spectacular investigations and arrests of prominent people have helped to persuade outsiders that you can do business in Nigeria without being corrupt. The sale of mobile phone licences in 2001 was the start of the new era, according to Osifo.

The business tyros are challenging the old oligarchs in business and, inevitably, in politics. "More and more people in Nigeria have too much at stake.

"They have something to fight for, and they don't want their businesses ruined by the reputation for corruption," says Osifo.

Lagos also used to have a frightening reputation for robbery and violence, but that too has subsided. Ten years ago the biggest companies on the Nigerian stock exchange were subsidiaries of multinational corporates. Today, the three richest companies are all Nigerian. Its top 10 banks, most of them new, have announced returns of between 14 per cent and 38 per cent on shares.

Nigeria's richest business man, Aliko Dangote, turned 50 last week. A manufacturer of everything from cement to orange juice, he is reported to be worth US$8bn ($10.8bn) - and may not be the richest man in Nigeria. Some of the oligarchs may be richer, but not for much longer.

- THE INDEPENDENT


Nigerian elections

Nigerians go to the polls today to choose state governors and legislators in the first of two elections, which if successful will give a big boost to democracy across Africa. The conduct and results of the state-level vote will provide an indication of what to expect from presidential polls in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer a week later.

Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous army rule, and these elections should lead to the first handover from one elected president to another since independence in 1960.

"If Nigeria works well, so might Africa. If the democratic experiment in Nigeria stalls, the rest of Africa suffers and loses hope," said Robert Rotberg of the US Council on Foreign Relations in a special report.

President Olusegun Obasanjo must step down after serving for the maximum eight years. He has promised free, fair and transparent elections, but rights groups and foreign observers have reservations.

Dozens of people have been killed in political violence in the months leading up to the polls, and many candidates have been disqualified because of controversial indictments for fraud. Observers say preparations have been poor.

Nigerian governors control big budgets and have enormous powers in their states, making the state polls as important to many Nigerians as the April 21 presidential vote.

In eight years of democracy, more than 15,000 people have been killed in ethnic, religious and communal fighting.

- REUTERS

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In Lagos, people take advantage of every available space to display their wares to make ends meet, pedestrian bridges no exception. Muda Oyeniran writes on how traders have taken over pedestrian bridges in the Centre of Excellence.

One of the peculiar features of Lagos is the presence of pedestrian bridges in strategic locations and major bus-stops within the metropolis. Along Ikorodu road, there are quite a number of pedestrian bridges at major bus-stops like Obanikoro, Palmgrove, Onipanu, Fadeyi e.t.c. Also along Oshodi – Mile 2 expressway, there are also pedestrian bridges at Ilasa Cele, Iyana-Isolo and other major bus stops.

Of course, the main purpose for erecting the bridges is to prevent pedestrians from being knocked down while crossing the roads. These roads are dual-carriage, and given their width and the recklessness of most Lagos drivers, pedestrian bridges, regardless of their number, are necessary for the safety of pedestrians.

Apart from the fact that many pedestrians hardly use the bridges (because of their eagerness to get to the other side of the road in good time), most of the bridges have now been converted into mini-markets by desperate Lagosians determined to eke out a living by all means.

A visit by Lagos Life to pedestrian bridges at Palmgrove, Onipanu, Fadeyi (all along Ikorodu road) and Ilasa bus-stop along Oshodi-Mile 2 expressway) revealed that the top of the pedestrian bridges have been overtaken by petty traders who compete for space to display their wares for passers-by on the bridge to see.

The traders include those selling clothing materials, eye glasses, books, carrots, children shoes, foodstuffs and various household goods. When Lagos Life visited the pedestrian bridge at Ilasa recently, the entire space on the bridge was a beehive of trading activities with pedestrians having to wriggle their way through the traders. Sometimes serious argument ensued between the pedestrians and the traders leading to hot exchanges of words.

Some pedestrians who spoke to Lagos Life under anonymity expressed diverse views over the invasion of the bridges by the desperate traders. While some saw the action of the traders as legitimate attempts to earn a living, others perceive them as environmental nuisance. Some even said that the activities of the traders might shorten the life span of the bridges since they are now being used for purposes other than what they were originally meant for.

However, some of the traders told Lagos Life that they pay for the spaces they occupy on the bridges on a daily basis. According to Stanley who sells eye-glasses on the pedestrian bridge at Ilasa, he pays N20 daily to the Mushin Local Government and collects ticket for permission to display his wares on the bridge. He further said that he had to embrace the opportunity since he could not afford to rent a shop in Lagos. “What am I selling that I will rent a shop? Do you know how much they rent shops in Lagos? But with N20 daily, I can easily afford a space to sell my goods,” he added.

On patronage, Stanley said he has many customers since his prices are moderate compared with shop owners who have to include the cost of the shop in the prices of their goods. For Owolabi, who sells motivational books on the bridge, he has no regrets selling on the bridge. According to him, he was sent packing from Somolu. “Since then, I have been here. Although I have lost most of my old customers, I have started making new ones and I thank God,” he stated.

Other traders who were mostly women refused to speak with Lagos Life, but it was reliably gathered that many of them make good money from their trade because their prices are cheaper than the ones in shops. Apart from trading activities, some reports also have it that the spaces on the top of the various pedestrian bridges also serve as haven for hoodlums where they engage in various nefarious activities ranging from smoking of Indian hemps to rape.

Some area boys and touts, Lagos Life gathered, also pay prostitutes to have ‘nice-time’ on the bridges.

Retail therapy in Lagos

Any visitor to Lagos could be forgiven for being shocked at the state of its roads, its ever growing mountains of garbage, the stench of its gutters and open sewers, the noise of its cars and rancid fumes they belch in your face. The world’s image of Lagos has been like this for years and you either love it or loathe it. But things are starting to change for this “land of aquatic splendour”.

Although Abuja is ardently seeking the title of “The Capital of Africa”, there is still a long way to go for other Nigerian cities (including Lagos) to reach the standards of other international style, commercial, tourism and entertainment capitals such as Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, or even Bangkok. But it would appear that Lagos is finally on its way.

The annual “Christmas pilgrimage home” made by Nigerians living abroad serves as an annual barometer for change in the commercial, entertainment and infrastructural climate of the country. This year there will be many raised eyebrows as our brothers and sisters take in the changing face of Lagos. From the newly “retiled” Akin Adesola Street and its “tributaries” in Victoria Island, The “joyous” Awolowo Road in Ikoyi (Lagos’ answer to Oxford Street?), to Allen Avenue in Ikeja, and a few other roads around Lagos, it’s clear that the metropolis is finally seeing its “dividends from democracy”.


But beauty is more than tarmac deep!
A drive down any of these major thoroughfares will also reveal many new edifices and restructured shop facades most of which show a new sense of pride in building and design: smart finishes, welcoming portals and a fancy array of new goods. The renewed confidence brought about by a democratic government has encouraged entrepreneurs to take the plunge and invest in their real estate (without fear of sudden eviction or change in economic policies) and investors to bring in new goods and services to meet the eclectic taste of Nigerians in general, and “Lagosians” in particular.

There are so many new projects underway, even just around the islands, that one is constant awe as yet another new is unveiled. Supermarkets are expanding furiously, furniture shops are springing up all over the place and new bars and restaurants are opening up to water and feed the Lagos population. In the past 12 months, we’ve seen the opening of the Galleria on Silverbird (home to Lagos’ first multiplex cinema) as well as a flurry of high-class restaurants including Bonsai and Saipan. The new mall on the Lekki road The Palm promises to raise the consumer bar ever further.

The banks too have not been left out of this race with an almost undeclared competition between them to outdo each other with their facades as well as their services. “Old design favourites” such as Diamond Bank’s Adeola Odeku branch, and Prudent Bank’s Adeola Hopewell branch have suddenly been eclipsed by Guardian Express Bank’s head office and the newly completed African Express Bank’s head office in all their glass block and marbled splendour. And there’s much more to come.

The revolution is even extending into the residential and business property sector, as grand new condos spring up out of the ruins of old tenements to dominate and permanently alter the Lagos skyline. As these developments rise to the challenge of providing space for homes and businesses, their prices also distort the real estate market across the city.

This is Lagos, and as new edifices spring up all over the place, so will new kiosks, roadside bars and akara sellers move in to meet the nourishment needs of the people working in these structures. You are just as likely to be regaled by the whiff of wood fired pizza from St. Elmo’s as you are by the chicken suya man stationed at the street corner, or to complete your banking in Chartered Bank’s head office and stop for a meal at the roadside bukka down the nearby alleyway. Lagos would not be Lagos without these contrasts and sensual clashes.


He who rules the airwaves, rules the economy
These incentives and investments have breathed new life into the Nigerian advertising industry with a completely new swathe of radio, TV and outdoor adverts combining to raise the standards of Nigerian advertising. Some of us still yearn for the “one plus four equals five” TreeTop days, but it is apparent that golden era of Nigerian advertising has since passed away.

We have come a long way from then, surviving the torture of “mum, I just spilled chocolate all over my birthday dress” to arrive at a whole new era of Michael Power’s, “Say what you want to say” and “No Pepsi? Gotta’ go” adverts, which inject humour, double entendre and sometimes outright sexiness into adverts, that listening to the radio or watching television is no longer such a drag.

The colour and imagery of print and billboard advertisements have quite literally leaped in quality and creativity. Once again, the banks were originally responsible for driving this new wave of adverts, especially in the print media, by pouring large amounts of money into advertising campaigns for their numerous saving schemes, electronic card schemes, special offers etc. Now they have been joined by the GSM and mobile phone companies and my fear now is that these banks and retailers too, will soon run out of “cute” acronyms for all their products: HIS, CHESS, DIBS, MBA, IVY, BOGOF…!


A lot to be desired
That said, there are still hundreds of dreadfully bad roads around the city and dozens of abandoned buildings that continue to blot the landscape and which together dilute any pleasure that may be derived from traversing Lagos in search of retail therapy. Also, beyond all these superficial changes, we have a long way from seeing an improvement in the attitudes and dedication of the service staff in Nigerian commercial organisations. Many will agree that service staff have been spoilt for so long, customers are faced with ill informed and insolent staff at shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and banks and rarely complain.

With the staff of banks, shops and the like, not having any sense of ownership in their organisations, very little customer care training and most times little interest in their jobs, it is very common for customers to get an incompetent waitress, a rude bank teller, a bored and uninterested shop assistant or nonchalant security guard. So much so in fact, that even a customer’s attempt at complaining is often laughed upon by the offending service person as ridiculous entertainment that would never really impact on them or their jobs.

It is little wonder that the level of Nigeria’s service industry is recognised as one of the lowest in the world. Very few customers walk out of a retail outlet fully satisfied with the service they received and with few or no returns policy on goods, they also have to “make do” with any substandard goods they have purchased.

It will take more than a new shop front and uniforms to change these attitudes and make the experience of shopping or dining out in Lagos truly exciting. The staff and owners of these organisations need to recognise the fact that the customer IS king and their money is what keeps the organisation open and with increasing competition and rising standards, organisations that fail to realise this are doomed.

For now though, it is fair to say that the experience of being a consumer in Lagos is certainly memorable. The grind through the traffic, the struggle to find parking spaces, the likelihood that the outlet will be plunged into darkness at any point and the unique attitude of the sales staff, spanking new outlet or not (even as they compete with each other for Christmas decorations) all add to the experience of shopping in Lagos!