Dear Diary,
Today I will talk about my third point concerning Lagos’ growth and development.
Concert Halls, no more Malls.
All the shops on Adeniran Ogunsanya and Bode Thomas, Surulere, all them ones at Allen and Opebi, Ikeja, have people finished buying what’s inside?
All the markets we have in Lagos that have people literally dragging you by the hair, arms and clothes to come patronise them are still there, but we are still building more malls.
Shebi Woolworths has packed up because they were not selling? Who would have gone to buy any of those ridiculously expensive things when Balogun market still meets every Saturday? Now I hear Gucci is coming. Hmmmm.
Anyway, my point is, we have a growing music industry and more and more concerts are happening but we do not have proper halls or outdoor centres built strictly for the purpose of concerts, like Radio City, Lincoln Centre, The Apollo in New York.
The National Theatre pictured below,
is basically out of commission and that area is unsafe, no help from the Government there. All we have now is Eko Hotel.
Eko Hotel that charges outrageous sums despite the fact that the Power supply there is more epileptic than it is at my house in Idi Araba, Surulere.
(oops, I just gave away my location)
They tore down that Ikoyi shopping centre and I prayed that someone would have the vision to build a proper concert hall, a commodity we lack in Lagos, Nigeria’s entertainment hub. A concert hall that can cater to rockstar-Beyoncé-Madonna-Black Eyed Peas-Michael Jackson type concerts as well as small intimate shows. A beautiful edifice we can make key holders and souvenirs of, like the Stature of Liberty and the Eiffel tower of New York and Paris.
But no, they are building yet another mall.
And I can only sigh.
thewittyjournalblog 
Omo, this mall thing vex you sha.i think that only someone in the entertainment industry will share your sentiment. Like someone rightly said, concerts won’t bring a daily income versus malls. What is needed is a dynamic entertainment center that has a multipurpose function. If only they will repair the national theatre.
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Í think that for them to continue building those shows that the malls are making money. The investors have most likely done a cost analysis and realised that it would pay them more to do a mall. See it this way, build a mall where brands come and pay exorbitant prices to rent shops every month whether they are making a profit of not. Or build a concert hall where people would mostly only rent on Fridays and during the weekend, whilst also bearing in mind that concerts are usually seasonal.
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This would totally be a dream come true if it was taken seriously.
I mean we do have one place that I really think should be worked on for now “the National Theatre”.
I really pray someone in the entertainment industry will think about such already, it’s like long over due.
Instead of being at the mercy of Eko Hotel and the likes.
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