By Tobi Amoo
The good thing about a foreigner/visitor/stranger writing about where you are from, where you were born and bred or where you have come to live and love is that it usually affords such a writer the chance to present the cities in a new light, a new perspective, unencumbered by the bias of familiarity and attachment. And when all three places are the same place, even better.
The bad thing about foreigner/visitor/stranger writing about your home is that such a writer writes without the benefit of a filter, without recognizing the various nuances that make such a place tick, thereby presenting a much starker and ultimately falser reality.
In Adam Skolnick’s Playboy piece, ‘Is Lagos The Most Dangerous Party City on the Planet?’, this foreigner/visitor/stranger is hampered by these limitations. In his well-written piece, the writer tries to and succeeds in the whole in capturing the essence of what it is to party in the most populous state in Nigeria. Even partying at popular Lagos nightclubs such as Quilox and Sip. The endless bottles of expensive wine, the pervasive aquamarine haze of weed and the scantily-dressed women all feature in his piece. As they should.
Dbanj at Quilox re-opening party.
But the very idea that nightclub patrons fear for their safety so much that they look around nervously as they step out from their ‘tinted Range Rovers and Lexus SUVs’ is laughable. The city might have its security challenges but the most trouble you would see in a typical Lagos night club is a champagne bottle broken on some unfortunate fellow’s head and not a shooting or stabbing like in New York and somewhere even more Western.
On February 7 this year, there was a shooting in an Orlando, Texas nightclub that left two people dead. The day before, one person was killed during a shooting in a Tampa, Florida nightclub. And in Chicago, or Chi-raq as Spike Lee would rather have it known, on March 25, 2016, last Friday as I type this, one person was killed and another injured in a nightclub shooting. So how dangerous is going clubbing in the United States?
One might not be the most prolific club goer in the city but having lived virtually all my life here and having friends and colleagues who go clubbing regularly, I feel I am well qualified to have an opinion about how safe clubbing is in Lagos. And I can say it is completely unheard of to hear of a shooting or even stabbing in or around a Lagos nightclub. If you don’t believe me, a simple internet search would back me up.
Also, while not completely removed from the existential threat of the Boko Haram militants, Lagos is as far away geographically as it is possible to be and still be in the same country and still yet untouched by the insurgency in the northeast.
Skolnick is right though in his assertion that music, Nigerian music, is the lifeblood of the Lagos party scene. From almost nothing, the sounds from the streets of Lagos became the soundtrack of an entire generation and continent. And it all started from nightclubs and street parties. Your song isn’t a hit or a ‘banger’ until it’s on heavy rotation at a nightclub or party. The Lagos night scene is also where you go to hear the latest music and see the latest dance styles.
The Playboy writer also captures accurately more or less how impossibly difficult it is for a new artiste to make it in an industry without any structure or record labels who only exist in name. It is not uncommon all across the world to see new and unsigned musicians also holding down two jobs just to be able to pay for a studio session. But I think it is pretty peculiar to see established and internationally recognised artistes such as Femi Kuti who are financing their own album.
So to answer Adam Skolnick’s question. No, Lagos is not the most dangerous party city on the planet. Despite the crime and poverty that pervades the city, clubbing in Lagos can be quite safe and pleasurable. You get to hear the latest music, network and make new friends and business partners, dance a little, drink a little, maybe even smoke a little; if that’s your thing. And no, you don’t have to glance nervously around when you step out from your car at the club. Just have some vex money because you never know.
Tobi Amoo is a Nigerian journalist; follow him on Twitter – @tobiamoo
by 208headlines
