Lagos is the most populous city in Nigeria, the largest country in Africa. The metropolitan area, an estimated 300 square kilometers, is a group of islands endowed with creeks and lagoons.
If you’re planning to visit Lagos any time soon, here are some tips of what you should do and plan to see.
1. Lekki Conservation Centre – LCC is part of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF). The centre is located on the renowned Lekki Peninsula, and covers 78 hectares of land.
The LCC, aims to protect wildlife that is found in the southwest coastal environment of Nigeria which is constantly undergoing urban developments.
The centre attracts both local and international visitors and often hosts environmental educational lessons for tourists and school groups.
2. Black Heritage Museum – Founded in part by a Nigerian cultural commission, the Black Heritage Museum preserves artifacts and records from the slave route that once ran through Badagry.
As you journey through the museum’s nine galleries, you’ll be faced with sobering reminders like trade documents, sketches, photos, sculptures and other salvaged historical records that documented the city’s dark past.
In addition to the Heritage Museum, the entire town of Badagry is a living historical museum-from the 1502 open market where slaves were auctioned off to makeshift baracoon cells which were used to keep slaves to the final exit routes used in the 17th and 18th centuries to transfer slaves to the Point of No Return at the tip of the peninsula.
3. Freedom Park Lagos
Freedom Park is a Memorial and Leisure Park dedicated to preserving the Lagos colonial heritage and history of the Old Broad Street prison.
The park has a wide range of facilities such as an amphi-theater, skeletal cells, food courts, ponds and fountains, pergola cells with internet booths, historical displays, souvenir shops and a museum complex.
4. Lekki Market
Locally known as Jakande Market, because of slum buildings in the area, this small tucked-away market includes stall after stall of artisans selling beads, textiles, handmade crafts, paintings, masks, wood carvings and other cultural artifacts.
In short, this is where you go to buy cheap but nice looking cultural souvenirs-haggling to get lower prices here is highly recommended.
Located along the Lekki Peninsular, this market is extremely difficult to get to because it has no real physical address, website, or contact information, so you’ll have to rely on your hotel staff and taxi driver to get you there. It can also be challenging to navigate without a 4-wheel drive during the rainy season with high waters.
5. Synagogue Church Of all Nations
The Church welcomes visitors, however, arrangements must be made in advance.
Almost everyone who goes there stays for a week to pray and attend services, have fellowship with other worshipers and be inspired by the simple and practical teaching of God’s Words.
You could witness incredible healings, shocking deliverance, remarkably accurate prophetic messages, a 12 hour service, teaching, friendly workers and an atmosphere of faith, love and giving.