The capital of Lagos is Isolo
“ when people don’t see your point of view, build the damn view and block their eyesight with it”……………………….DSA, 2016
For a long time now, Ikeja has been struggling to be capital of Lagos, I mean it still houses the state government, but the edge perhaps lies in Victoria island, maybe Bourdillon (laughs heartily, this is not a political post).
I truly believed in Ikeja as the capital of Lagos and a place of immeasurable value, that was why, when we were planning the first Green36 Concert in July 2013, even before I knew, it would end up being a company, I went against the grain and mooted Ikeja for the first location. But what ensued; Ikeja was really about a bad rainy day, chaotic evening traffic, and little or no parking space, etc. In short, that event could have been better elsewhere. I remember, we had about 30 ivy league students from the US who arrived early believing that like the US you get to a concert venue early, get a good seat and wait for the show. Unfortunately, we delayed the show heavily because of the rains that evening and the ensuing traffic. They left because they had a curfew time to return to Victoria Island. Ikeja wasn’t considered safe enough apparently for these Americans.
So the next time around, I was intent on doing it differently, almost like in the opposite direction, so we headed out to Victoria Island, the Vegas of Gidi. Again, there were plenty shocks and lessons on the way.
· V/island doesn’t favor upstarts, especially in the entertainment businesses, you either come big or you go home.
· We had to do VIP or the dreaded VVIP tables & seating again. It was against the very foundation of what Green36 represented. Let me come clean, Green 36 wasn’t my original idea. It was an intern at Loopy music; Jibola that coined the name sometime March 2013 and the ethos was really people who would do anything to party for music. Its vision was close to that of the Coachellas, Glastonbury and lollapalooza music festivals. It was after the first event that I decided to transform it into a concert/ artist touring company in August 2013.
· We were trying to sell rock music but the V/island crowd wanted popular music events, so we caved and doused the rock performances with rappers, alternative and afrobeats. Strange thing was, we actually did break even in this event; strange because, the event was designed as a TGIF event, meant for people closing out the weeks work with a music event instead of making their dreadful traffic filled journeys to the mainland or elsewhere, they could attend the event, spend about 3 hours and then hit the road when rush hour was over. Some of our suppliers nearly ruined it though with their African time approach and things, so we set on a journey to attract the right kind of partners. Thankfully we had massive media support for that event and the Ikeja event, I could never thank these guys enough; Deji of Beat FM, Tosyn of Top radio enough or Pekun at City FM .
Since going to V/island, I have honestly been gun shy about where to go next. We put up a down payment at Obasanjo’s outfit in Abeokuta two years back. We never used the place and I never asked for a refund. When I meet the ex-president in person, I can boldy claim he owes me (how foolish?)
I considered Surulere or the Yaba crowd, but the groundwork required there scares me, the potential traffic on d –day scares me, even more I am scared by the competition in Lere, the joints and beer parlors that strut that city can not be defeated only courted.
You see, our vision was very big, we wanted to develop a concert company that would serve the continent, not just Nigeria that small brands as well as big brands could tap into, to project their products and services on that scale. Learning point was that most of the partners we proposed to were gun-shy they came with Plenty-Talk and Zero-Bucks. That’s why I was more than impressed with the organizers of the One Africa Music fest in the US because they got it right from the jump it seems.
So three years down the line, I still have the attitude like it was my first concert all over again. So I and the team did some introspection for nearly a year and we have decided that the new H/Q for our events from now into 2017 is ISOLO. Our intention is to make it the FUN capital of Lagos over the next 20 months.
I can hear you ask loudly; How did he arrive at this decision?; Isolo of all places in Lagos.
For one, we found that we understand Isolo unlike the V/island market where people want to see Beyonce in concert, but they want free passes to get in. where people wont purchase tickets until the day of the event, where people wont show up until 3 hours past kick off time, where people wish to sit in front of the entertainer and have silverware on their tables along with their favorite champagne or cognac.
We also understand it is probably one of the worst places to set up, considering their per capita income, but we believe that if we can fulfill our desires here, we can take on Nigeria or even Africa (five years ago, I met a man named Bosun Tijani of CC Hub, Yaba. He was just starting out. he was brash and passionate. I paid him zero attention, but out of Yaba, he wrote Nigerian history by hosting a young man; Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) thrice the wealth of Africa’s richest man and about half Dangote’s age to walk those Yaba streets with him in 2016. Go back to the top of this post and see it in fine print ………… …………. Build the damn view and block their eyesight with it. That is what Bosun and his team did and that is what we will do.
Isolo is the welcome city into Africa’s largest market in sub-Saharan Africa. It is less than a kilometer from the international airport. Many foreigners are increasingly stopping here to lay their heads, birth their dreams and ply their trade, thereby saving their energies from the chaotic-ness that can be Lagos. Isolo is about 3 million people strong, that is nearly half of some of our favorite vacation getaway city-states.
If I had one advice only to give to the Minister of Tourism, I will tell him delay everywhere else and focus on Isolo. It gives the foreigner cost effectiveness, closeness to the gateway, it is easily manageable security wise. Plus it is most likely the first thing they see of Nigeria, make it worthwhile for them.
Again, just build the events, attractions, activities and the rest will follow. You want oyinbo* to follow you to Argungu fishing festival in Kebbi or Yankari games village, when many Nigerians themselves are afraid of travelling Lagos to Ibadan by road.
So here is what we are doing for the rest of the year
STUDIO 36
Mixer type event for professionals and the creatives (artists) in an ambience of good music . typical crowd size about 300 people.
STARTUP GRIND ISOLO
We have placed Isolo as the second city in Nigeria to have a startup grind chapter, joining over 200 cities around the world. Check us out at www.startupgrind.com/isolo Our conversations will be with techpreneurs monthly as we build an ecosystem here too.
VIBIN YOUTH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Annual music festival of upcoming artists and established acts in an atmosphere designed to endear music fans to their showmanship, artistry and leaving them with a one of a kind experience.
ISOLO SHOPPING FESTIVAL
Month long shopping festival to showcase our retailers and companies to Lagos and the world . Isolo assets are many for those who don’t know. She is home to Promasidor (Cowbell), Chi Group (Chivita), Femstar (LIMCA, Goldspot etc)Johnson Wax (US Johnson & Johnson’s Nigeria outpost), Guardian newspapers, Champion newspapers, PEFTI, Wale Adenuga productions, IBIS, Hilton (under construction), Chellarams (KFC Nigeria), Kewalrahms(OLAM) and probably Nollywood(those who know, know, ask Sandra Achums). Isolo has always been a place of enterprise and compassion (home to SOS village).
Allow me to introduce you once again to ISOLO, the new project home of Green36 concerts and the fresh FUN capital of Lagos. Isolo welcomes you to Lagos, Nigeria
DSA is the event mayor of Isolo. also founding CEO of Loopy Music and Green36concerts.
*oyinbo — colloquial used to describe foreign people, particularly fairer skinned; e.g. Caucasians, people of European descent and/or Africans with fairer skin features.
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