The reinvention of Lagos Bar Beach as the party capital of Nigeria

TLSP puts Lagos on the same pedestal with other cities like Miami, Ibiza and the Greek island, Ios where nonstop parties are looked forward to throughout the year.
The five-kilometre strip of road known as Ahmadu Bello Way on Victoria Island has seen many things since it was carved out of the Kuramo Waters in the late 1940s to the mid-50s.

If you’d listened to stories by older people that grew up in that era, you would have heard nostalgic tales about the sprawling waterfront and beach.

With palm trees and cabanas, the entirety of that road was white sands and blue waters.  It also was the site of several churches whose members would carry our prayer sessions by the water. Wole Soyinka‘s play Trials of Brother Jero was set on the Bar Beach.
However, by the ’70s, the idyllic nature of the waterfront had been broken by the continuous construction of the business district in the otherwise tranquil environment.
The fact that it was also used as an execution ground for the notorious armed robbers that bedeviled Lagos then was of no help to the tourism potential the place held.

It is said that in 1971 at the execution of the notorious Ishola Oyenusi, over 30,000 people were on the beach to witness the macabre sight.

After the perpetual ocean surges and flooding that plagued Ahmadu Bello Way in the last decade or so, along with the Eko Atlantic City that is literally coming out of the Atlantic Ocean, it is gradually becoming the new site of entertainment and tourism for Lagos and the whole West African coast.
In recent years it has played host to the annual One Lagos Fiesta on New Year’s Eve, that sees over a hundred thousand people usher in the new year with music and fireworks.

More recently, the All Africa Music Awards created a Music Village on the Bar Beach for its 2016 event.
But all that is incomparable with the two-day Lagos Street Party coming up today and tomorrow. An estimated 500,000 people are expected to have a massive street party over the course of 48 hours.
The appropriately named Lagos Street Party puts Lagos on the same pedestal with other cities like Miami, Ibiza and the Greek island,  where nonstop parties are looked forward to throughout the year. It further proves that Lagos is the place to be during the yuletide celebrations.

This epic celebration is organized by the Lagos State Government in conjunction with White Star Entertainment and will feature some of Nigeria’s finest entertainers including M.I Abaga, Olamide, Kaffy, Ice Prince, Phyno, DJs Spinall and Lambo; as well as activities that will make the two-day rave a must-attend.

For Lagosians and visitors who have had a long year and looking forward to the end of the year, there’s no better way to ‘turn up’.
‘We’re working with all the right partners, and doing everything according to global standards, to make sure visitors and Lagosians have the time of their lives,’

says Akin Akinyelure, Project Coordinator. The Lagos Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde further adds, ‘It’s a party for everybody. As a government, our mission is to establish a renowned commerce platform in Lagos that promotes culture, art and tourism in the entertainment eco-system.’
The Lagos Street Party has all the hallmarks of an international street rave and it is gratifying that on the same beach where only a few years ago seemed like a rundown eyesore on the Lagos map, is becoming an entertainment hotspot for Nigeria and Africa.
Beyond that, it is a testament of realization of the managers of the Lagos brand (in this case the Lagos State Government) that the power of Lagos lies in its ability to attract not only people seeking economic advancement because of the state’s financial buoyancy, or the capacity to provide the thrills that make life interesting to live, but most importantly, the capacity to continuously reinvent itself and deliver world class experiences, all the time.