Lekki Arts and Crafts Market Review
the one where we help who we can help
In our last poll a Lekki Arts and Crafts Market review won at 35% of your votes. Here’s a few responses of what you wanted me to buy or share about the market:
Lorrie, a reader after my heart, said, “an outfit with some jewelry and at least one basket…”
Rebecca, selflessly said, “A trip to Lekki market - the one where you bought your bestie something fun.”
Amy, who lived in Nigeria as an expat when she was a teenager said, “Tell us about your negotiations at the market and how many people tried to get your attention to come to their stall. Did they say, ‘no charge for looking?’ Did they say ‘last, last price?’ Did they say, ‘good for me, good for you?’” Spoken like a local, Amy.
It wouldn’t be fair to start at the market, because arriving at the market is a feat worth discussing. The adventure begins when you turn onto a dirt, rock and pothole-filled path (think industrial restaurant sized soup pots). This “road” is lined with old umbrellas which house locals selling produce and miscellaneous items. It would be fine in an off-road 4-wheeler, but in a 2012 Toyota Prado it feels like riding a wooden roller coaster in slow motion. By the time you arrive, you’re likely to have dislocated a disc and a slight concussion. No time to assess your injuries though, the market awaits!
Along the wooden roller coaster portion of the journey is where, a few weeks ago, a makeshift toll booth was set up by locals. They used a long tree branch as a barricade and were charging any vehicles headed to the market a fee of 10,000 Naira ($5.95) to pass. But my neighbor who videotaped this whole ordeal (which you can watch in THIS newsletter) reports her driver gave them a 1,000 Naira bill (60 cents) and it was sufficient.
While ethically questionable, I give Nigerians credit for their entrepreneurial spirit. Naira doesn’t grow on trees after all; it grows when you use a tree to block people from going where they want to go. However, when I went to the market last week, the toll booth had disappeared. I was grateful for this, as I didn’t have any cash Naira on me. Out of the 4 ATMs I visited that week, none had cash to dispense, a common issue here.
Some people are brave enough to go to the market alone, but there’s safety in numbers. Both financial safety, such as “don’t buy that” or "don't pay that much for that,” and practical safety, as in not getting kidnapped. This particular day, I was meeting two friends at the market. Upon finally arriving, my driver parked, and a young local man who is mute came to greet me. His name is Da-ta, although he speaks in high-pitched noises, so it’s hard to know if I have that correct.
Da-ta is one of my favorite people at the market. I only go to the market a handful of times a year and he meets me every time and serves as a market guide. He also carries anything I purchase back to my car. He does this for anyone he knows that visits from our camp.
The second thing you have to understand about this market is that it’s huge. It has over 400 stalls, mostly un-airconditioned with dirt floors, but if you’re willing to sweat (and yes, you are, because you’re in Nigeria which is a natural sauna 90% of the year) the market has some cool local gems. Below is one of many hallways at the market:
This is where Da-ta becomes handy. Before I even tell him I’m trying to meet up with friends, he gestures for me to follow and leads me to them. They’re where good friends should be: our favorite basket stall. And they’re rummaging through the baskets ruthlessly as if there was a Taylor Swift Eras ticket hidden in one of them.
I wasn’t in the mood to buy a basket, but I did it anyway, for reader Lorrie. In fact, I bought 5 gorgeous wall baskets. They happen to match a lovely wall collage I’m working on for our house entryway. I didn’t realize this until I got home, because they were bought with Lorrie in mind, duh.
We’ve come to this stall enough (I blame my friend Holly) that we know the basket supplier, Ibrahim. He sources his baskets from Bolgatanga, Ghana. Like all Nigerians, Ibrahim drives a hard bargain. I usually partake in this chaos for a healthy 5 minutes, before the beating sun and dripping sweat start wearing on me and I give up, likely awarding him lots of extra Naira. It’s a repeating conversation of him saying “you name final price”, “you tell me the worth” and “I make you good deal,” before I finally cave, grateful to cross a finish line.
Sorry to report this reader Amy, but I’m a crappy bargainer.
After Da-ta takes my purchased baskets to the car, the guy at the stall across from Ibrahim calls out, “madam, aren’t you going to look at my store?” Feeling some guilt for the years’ worth of basket’s he just watched me buy, I reply “of course,” and proceed to buy a few totally unnecessary tchotchkes for 35,000 Naira ($20.00). But they’re cute, right? Maybe for my selfless bestie, Rebecca?
Typically, baskets are all I buy, but thinking of Lorrie, I forced myself outside my comfort zone and also went to buy some jewelry. I bought a handful of really cool tribal bead type necklaces for 8,000 Naira ($4.80) each. And a few bracelets that remind me of power beads for 4,000 Naira ($2.40) each. Who else remembers power beads?
I also bought 3 outfits. One very traditional Nigerian robe type outfit for 30,000 Naira ($17.99). Undoubtedly, I was ripped off by this one. And then another two outfits for 15,000 Naira ($8.99) each. They will all need to be taken and/or hemmed in by our local seamstress, but ultimately, they’ll be super cute. I need your help picking which one I should wear to our camp Thanksgiving dinner. Please vote below!
All in all, I spent around $170 USD, the majority of the money being on the wall baskets (my husband will be thrilled about this.) I’d say it was a successful market trip. Before we moved here, a guy who lived here before us gave us some advice, “don’t bring your bleeding heart to Nigeria,” he warned, “because you’ll just bleed everywhere.”
I feel this. Every day, I’m reminded I can’t help everyone. My rule of thumb instead is: help who you can help. With that in mind as we get ready to leave, I turn to my friend Holly and ask, “mom, can I borrow some Naira?”
She laughs and asks how much.
“3,000” I reply.
She hands me a few dirty Naira bills, which I give to Da-ta, as a small thank you for leading us around the market and bringing my treasures to the car. He thanks me and waves goodbye.
P.S.
Stay tuned to my next Newsletter to vote on the next Day in the Life topic!
I understand being terrible at haggling. My son is good at this skill and I asked him to come with me to look at the car I was buying. We took it out for a test drive and as we passed another car dealership he asked if I wanted to look in there. I said No! We’re driving a car from the other dealer and it has stickers on it. He never listens to me. ☹️ However it turned out to be a good thing. When they saw what I was test driving they then knew what I was looking for. Without saying anything they showed us a great car 🚙 with a lot of bells and whistles at a good price. Kudos to my son.