After a bit over two years in Lagos, I finally went to a club this weekend. That was not my first time experiencing the nightlife in a city that never sleeps, but it has been a very long time.

It was a lovely girls’ weekend and we wanted to have a good time. I was a bit wary because of the curfew that’s still in place, but then why is there still a curfew for midnight when many places are still opened after midnight? This question will be answered at the end of the post. If you have your guesses, pause now and leave a comment.

We started the night off at Crossroads in Eko Hotel at around 9:30 PM – 10:00 PM. I didn’t even know Eko Hotel had that kind of bar. When I think of Eko Hotel having a bar, I think of a place where businesspersons go to unwind after a long day of travel or work. This was not the case. There were obviously businesspersons there (especially men) but the ambience was that of a club. Strobing lights with loud blood-pumping music. I kept looking at the men in suit shirts, who clearly looked like they had just gotten off of work, and was wondering what in the world they were doing there…???? ????

Crossroads has a lounge vibe and would have been a nice spot to get you in the right mood if not for the music. I must say, the music sucked. Whoever mixed the tracks didn’t do it well. The beat kept changing from song to song and it was hard for you to build your mood. The moment you started getting into the beat, it changed to something else. The build-up wasn’t there. We had shots of tequila to start the evening and then some of the girls ordered cocktails. The cocktails tasted like candy, not a single drop of alcohol could be found. I remember the bright pink strawberry daiquiri that tasted like liquefied candy floss. It was really hard to take more than a few sips. The second drink was some form of ginger ale cocktail and all you could taste was the ginger ale. I didn’t mind the taste because I love ginger ale, but it wasn’t worth the cost, whatever it was.

That’s another thing to talk about, money. When you’re going out in this Lagos, you have to align your pockets very well. If you’re going out to a club, you need to have a plug or be the ultimate plug. To be the ultimate plug, you have to have some serious cash reserve or be hosting an event. Lucky for me, my friends are my plug, and they have ultimate plugs that don’t discriminate when it comes to expenses. So we were able to go out and get drinks without worrying about costs. If you have to pay for everything yourself, you’ll easily go through a whole month’s salary in one sitting. It’s really expensive to have fun in Lagos most time. But Lagosians work hard, so they must party hard.

After about an hour and a half, we decided to leave Crossroads because we couldn’t get into the right mood there. We were supposed to head straight for Velvet, which I love. I feel like Velvet is always a vibe. Instead, we ended up at OX.

When we got there, I was a bit confused because I’ve seen OX during the day and I thought it was a restaurant. Apparently, it’s a restaurant by day and moonlights as a club at night. I’m not sure how I feel about a restaurant converting itself to a club at night. I suppose there’s no way to feel about it, it’s just a place.

It had the same vibe as Crossroads but a bit better. The music was slightly better but still not all the way there. It was a good place to pre-game/pre-drink. People seemed livelier and were dancing.

The downside was that since it’s a restaurant, there were still tables on what would have been the dancefloor, so people were dancing around the tables. They also had shisha there. I don’t know if they have Shisha at Crossroads but it was more common at OX.

If you want to start your evening off before going to a proper club, I would suggest OX over Crossroads.

I wish I could tell you that we were finally able to dance the night away but unfortunately, that dream was cut short. We were supposed to spend the rest of the night at Zorya. We had already gotten there and paid for parking (₦2,000) but one of my friends was already passing out. So we decided to call it a night.

Curfew is a Scam

One of the highlights for me from the whole experience is the fact that curfew was still in place even though places were still opened after midnight. There were checkpoints along the road and we ended up getting stopped three times. Obviously, each time they stopped us, they only truly wanted one thing. They would start by asking you for your driver’s license and you had to be the one to be like “Ahn ahn oga, which wan be driver’s license, talk wetin you want”. Then they would say something ridiculous like “buy fuel for us”, or “do happy weekend for us” ???? ????. So you have to set out at least ₦2,000 to settle policemen on the road.

The thing about the curfew is that Uber, Bolt and other driving apps stop working at midnight, so club goers have to sort out transportation on their own. This means that a lot of people drive while under the influence. I find it quite disturbing that it’s not something the government has taken into consideration when making its decision. At this point, I feel like curfew should be lifted. Or at least, driving apps should be allowed to operate 24/7.

Overall, it was a fun girls’ night out and the thrill of it will last me through the rest of the year. I’m too much of an introvert to be going out so often.

Let me know about your own experiences clubbing or going out at night in Lagos!

Check out my Youtube Video on the topic: