Happy New year to all my readers. I hope 2022 is all we hope for and more. Right before the end of the year, my blog reached 5,000 views. I’m so grateful to everyone who has been to my corner of the internet and I can’t wait to share all I have planned for the new year.
The first blog post of the year will be about the trip I took to Abeokuta about a month ago. I had so much fun and by popular demand on Instagram. I’m sharing everything that went down.
It was a goal at the beginning of 2021 to go travel to at least two places in Nigeria before the year ended. After my Ibadan trip, which I talk about here, I decided that my second destination would be Abeokuta. The train stopped there on its way to Ibadan. It was convenient. It was also a top choice because in all my years of visiting Ogun State; I’m from there and I went to high school there as well, I had never explored Abeokuta.
After two postponements, I decided to head to Abeokuta during the first weekend of December. I knew I only wanted to stay there for one night. Thankfully, I have family in Abeokuta and I was able to stay with her in her room. This was perfect because the budget for the entire trip was 20,000 naira.
I woke up by 5:30 am on that Saturday morning. I got to the train station by a few minutes past 7:00 am and there was a long queue. I joined the queue with hopes that I would be able to join the train but I couldn’t get a ticket. I would advise you to get there latest by 6:30 am if you wish to get on the 8:00 am train. I had two options; to wait till 1:00 pm for the next train and or join a car or bus going to Abeokuta. I had 8 places to visit in less than 2 days. I didn’t have time to waste. So, I joined a cab of other folks heading to Ojota and I got into a car heading for Abeokuta in the Ojota park. The ride cost 1,500 naira and took about 2 hours and I was in Abeokuta by 11:00 am. The last stop was at Kuto bus stop. My sister met me at the bus stop and she let me know that the Alake’s palace wasn’t far from the park and I could start from there.
She had some stuff to do so, we agreed that we would meet up when she was done. I got on a bike headed to the Alake’s palace. On the bike, I spotted one of the places I had on my list. The Kuti Heritage Museum. I decided to take that off my list and cut the ride short.
My time at the Kuti Heritage Museum was great. I paid a thousand naira to the tour guide and he took me around what used to be Reverend Oludotun Ransome- Kuti and Mrs Funmilayo Ransome Kuti’s home. All the Kuti children had also grown up here. The tour guide went through their family history and professional and personal lives. There were newspaper and magazine clippings from when they were active politically and professionally. There was a huge hall where they held services and political meetings. I was in awe of the space and its significance of it. The upper floor of the building was partly off boundaries because it was being used to shoot a movie. I was able to see their kitchen, bathrooms and catch a glimpse of the bedrooms. Behind the building, there was also a bar that was said to come alive in the night.
The architecture was interesting. The double staircases, the window shutters and the perforated walls. It was renovated a while back and I’m not sure but I believe that’s when the balustrade was given the Ijebu cap pattern.
During my tour, the guide had made mention of Abeokuta Grammar School and its history. The Kuti parents and two children which included Fela and Beko Kuti had attended the school. So did many other notable Nigerians. Reverend Kuti also worked as a teacher at the school at the beginning of his career. He said the old school building was not far from the museum and I asked him to direct me. On my way to Abeokuta Grammar school. I spotted a church building called St. John’s Anglican Church After a few googles, I found out it was founded in 1947 and the first vicarage was Samuel Ajayi Crowther. I couldn’t leave without pictures. I found out after my trip that the stone building was at risk of getting demolished to make way for a “modern” building. I hope it doesn’t happen.
Abeokuta Grammar School had moved to a different location called Idi-Araba but the original building stood as part of the Ajayi Crowther Seminary. The security guard let me in on the condition that I wouldn’t take pictures. But I had to sneak in these two, and I don’t regret it.
I finally headed to the Alake’s palace, I took another bike. I informed the security guards that I’d like to see the palace. He stated that I would need to “settle” them, He asked me to greet the chiefs and explained that there were three palaces and they were at one time or the other occupied by the King. I walked around the premises, took pictures and asked the chiefs about the idols. The chiefs responded and were a bit curious to know why I had come. They were convinced I was a journalist. They also got into a back-and-forth on whether my home town of Ogere-Remo was truly part of Ijebu land.
I gave the security guard a thousand naira and took pictures of this building inside the palace compound. It was part of the Oba Okukenu Royal Family Compound. In the compound, there was also an Egba museum that wasn’t functional. A missed opportunity.
Right across the road was the Centenary Hall. It was a building constructed in 1950 to commemorate a hundred years of peace in Abeokuta after the last war. I couldn’t take many pictures of the inside of the space because of an ongoing meeting.
I walked less than a kilometre to the Cathedral Church of St. Peter. It is the first church to be established in Nigeria. It was completed in 1898. The original building still stands tall today.
My next stop was Halaga Amala, Panseke. All the places I had visited till now were located in Ake. The reputation of the food at Halaga precedes it so I knew I had to have a taste. I got there on a bike. In Abeokuta, the means of public transport include bikes and green cabs. The cabs have routes they ply and it would be too expensive for me to get into one all by myself.
My sister met me at the restaurant and we had Amala. The food was great. It was a lot better than the Amala I had in Ibadan and a strong contender for the best Amala I’ve ever had. By this time it was getting late.
We decided to head to Panseke market instead of Olumo Rock. I got some satin adire for myself and more adire fabric for my sister and my friends. My adire cost 7000 naira for 5 yards, the most expensive of all the fabric I bought. There’s a larger adire market called the adire complex but my sister let me know that the prices were higher than the smaller market.
It was time to call it a night
The next morning, we were out by 10 and we got a green cab to take us from Panseke to Olumo rock for 1000 naira after multiple Bolt drivers cancelled on us. The cab driver remarked that he went to Olumo rock a lot as a child before there was any gate fee. We met up with my friend at the Olumo Rock complex. The entrance fee to Olumo Rock was a thousand naira for each person. They also had an additional fee for having a camera, but I managed to convince them that was an instant camera. The Olumo Rock Complex had a restaurant, a gallery, some kiosks and a few peacocks in it, It was obvious there had been poor maintenance. The most glaring evidence is that the lift did not work. We climbed to the first stop where we bought water. There was also palm wine and other drinks for sale. Here, a child joined us and made himself our guide. I kid you not, he did not ask. But it was not a problem. He spoke Yoruba as he led us around the mountain. He showed us where the revered trees that grew from the rocks were, the last remaining room from the days where the mountain was used as a hideout, This fact gave Abeokuuta its name which literally translates to “under the rock”. He showed us Obaluaye’s shrine and another shrine for the mountain. Apparently, in the olden days, a person with intellectual disabilities was used as a human sacrifice to the mountain once a year, but now animals are used. He took us to the grave of the first tour guide of the mountain. We also got to see mini sculptures of notable people from the war. We had the option of taking the original route to the top of the mountain which involved clambering between rocks. I would have done it but I didn’t wear sneakers so I took the stairs – and there were a lot of stairs to the top. From the top, you could see most of Abeokuta, the Ogun river, other smaller mountains and historical spots in Abeokuta. The boy volunteered to take my pictures and he did a great job. We gave him a thousand naira and headed to our next stop.
We could see the Central Mosque from the top of the mountain but I wanted to see it up and close since it was on my itinerary. It was one of my favourite buildings I got to see. It was built in 1925 by Afro- Brazilian returnees based on the architecture of Baroque churches is Brazil. The mosque wasn’t open, so we couldn’t go inside.
The visit to the mosque was the end of the original itinerary but I decided to go to Green Legacy resort. It is located in the Olusegun Obasanjo Library, Oke-Mosan. We got a green cab which took us there. Being there was nostalgic because I had been there 5 years ago as part of my high school graduation event. We sat by the bamboo groove to catch our breath and then we headed to the artificial lake. The resort offered rides on the lake for different price points. We got 10 minutes on the lake on a motorboat for 1,500 naira. We all got a chance to steer the boat under the supervision of a professional. It was really calming and I enjoyed it. The attendant by the lake informed us that a bigger lake with more activities was in the works on Obasanjo’s farm. She said we would get updates whenever the facility would be opened since we put down our email addresses. I can’t wait to be back to check that out.
For lunch, my sister recommended the Pizza and Pastries Restaurant and we finally got a Bolt ride. We sat by a kiosk waiting for the cab and the attendant let us know we couldn’t sit without ordering anything. So, we got a bottle of water. Side note, Harmattan was already in Abeokuta so it was hot, dusty and dry. We were going through bottles of water. Buying the water was a bad decision as it cost twice the amount we bought in the restaurant near the Bamboo garden. The cab dropped us at the restaurant. The food cost about a thousand naira. It was tasty with limited options because the church crowd had nearly bought all the food.
After eating, it was time to leave. The restaurant wasn’t too far from the park at Pansheke market but I was too tired to walk the distance so I took another bike. I left Abeokuta at about 5:00 pm The transportation back to Lagos cost 2000 naira and took about an hour and a half. There was significantly less traffic on the way back. I spent nearly the same time in Lagos traffic from Berger to where I live. A reminder that I was back in my city.
I really enjoyed my trip to Abeokuta. It wasn’t a trip to relax. I went to explore and that I did. In total, I visited 10 places apart from the restaurants in less than thirty-six hours. I’m so happy I didn’t cancel the trip after I couldn’t get on the train. Abeokuta was full of surprises. I went with the flow of the city and I had so much more fun than I anticipated. I also go to see a statue commemorating the Ijemo massacre that I didn’t know about, this old Punch Newspaper office building and the smaller hills of Abeokuta, one of which is called “Idahun si adura” (meaning the answer to a prayer).
One thing I would change is taking a pair of sneakers. My shoes were not the most suitable for all the walking around I did. Another thing to note is, Bolt is operative in Abeokuta. It is cheaper than it is in Lagos but not as ubiquitous as it is in Ibadan and they tend to want more expensive offline trips. So you would have to do with bikes and green cabs. If you plan to walk around I’d advise you to slather on the sunscreen. It was hot and there’s nothing worse than a sunburn. My only bad experience was with a surly cab driver. But even he wasn’t able to take off the shine of this trip. By the end of the trip, I spent about 23,000. I overshot my budget because of the fabric I bought. You could plan a similar trip without shopping for 15,000 naira or a day trip for 10,000 naira or less.
If you have any questions, please ask away. I’m happy to respond.
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This attraction was featured on Twinkl in their blog Top Nigeria Tourist Attractions to Visit.