2022
A 757km journey to the Federal Capital Territory is no beans! Yes, it's worth the stress too.
Abuja is a pretty and large city. It is dotted with natural and man-made features which is an ostentatious blend for an urban settlement. The roads are wide, smooth and interconnected, yielding less to traffic congestion.
Although not all parts of the metropolis seem active all day, the Maitama District is functional -24hours! You can get around town any time of the day, either using taxi hailing service or other cab services. They charge more for late trips, take note.
Upon arrival, I headed straight to Maitama where I'd spend my short vacation. It took us less than 20 minutes drive to arrive at one of the prestigious hotels in the country. The cab driver was kind enough to stop an eatery to pick up my kind of dinner. As we continued the road trip, he also took the job of a tour guide listing places I need to see and hangouts for night-crawlers. Perhaps, he saw me as one, coming from Lagos. Weariness couldn't allow me take photos of the beautiful lit streets but the free blowing breeze was soothing.
Our nifty chauffeurs got us through security checks and we were at the check-in lounge; straight to the fifth floor in a jiffy. It was definitely a shower - hot tub, as the room was 20 centigrade cool. I made myself some tea, while being briefed on some assignments, gradually eased into nattering about the luxurious environment.
Maitama
Maitama District is a deluxe niegbourhood hosting international community - embassies, high commissions, diplomatic, hotels, government ministries, foreign organizations, malls, public official residents and sprawling estates more. The urban plan looked cool even on ground. Walkways are interconnected such that persons with mobility challenges can actually move around unassisted unlike parts of Lagos.
Transcorp Hilton
Right before me was the beautiful city of Abuja, from this part of the suite, looking green and glittery. I fell in love! Lots of people come here for various activities. The massive building has over 500 rooms, lounges, gyms, exclusive executive floors, presidential suites and 24hours service. Breakfast and dinner were awesome. From the gate to the skyscraper, there were accessibility trails through the car parks into the building and up the elevator. This is the only facility where I have seen a complete accessible trail thus far!
My LG colleague from Lagos surprisingly was in the same location and he joined the meetup. @Specobelle has been a wonderful partner.
Wuse Zone 3
A common feature in this part of Abuja was the bureau de change. My friend said this is the where the dollars reside and I added that it’s the FOREX Zone! Most of the buildings here didn’t have large spaces but more houses feature per square metre. Wuse Zone 3 is in between the CBD and Maitama District thus a melting point for citizens especially outdoor lovers.
Floris Garden & Park
Yes, they know I am from Lagos and folks wanted to impress or suppress me. We went to a popular garden in Wuse Zone 3. It was another smooth and swift ride too. This garden has an open seating arrangement, large car park, a lounge, game stand, lush green area and music. It was about 5pm and the parking lots were almost filled? Now, I see why the loved it here.
Accessible trails
Maitama District would get an “A+” for accessibility! Transcorp, Power House, National Human Rights Commission, Nigeria Communication Commission and other buildings on this axis had ramps linking their buildings. The only challenge was the lack of signage to indicate accessibility.
Night Life
After our day activities, we got calls from some high school classmates to hangout in another district. We haven't seen one another since 1998! All we do was chat over whatsapp and phone but now it’s a reunion. Kazah would pick me up from the hotel showing some historic places and proving why Abuja would be nice for me. Here we are at a popular lounge/park in Zone 3 sipping larger while we awaiting a raucous encounter with ol’ pals.
One after the other, Stephen @Stevetanko14 (Stevo), Solomon (Solo), Godwin, Oluwaseun (Mushe)and Kingsley (Slo) arrived giving me a smacking hand shake and big hug. Reminiscing the good old days and looking at how far we have come. All eyes were on our table, they didn’t understand emotions we were going through but we proceeded with more beers, chicken barbecue and suya
Everyone wanted me to talk about Local Guides and the accessibility walk. In the process I discovered that most of them where LGs two others joined instantly and started adding photos of the bar, garden, lounge and game corner.
At about 10:15 pm, Slo would drive me back to Maitama enroute his home. I found myself on the fifth floor once more; took a cold shower this time, my dinner, then some tea.
Some nice images in the album would take you round the city- enjoy the photos and surely I would be back!
@IlankovanT @TraciC @AlejandraMaria @brittym @KarenVChin @ErmesT @AriMar @PaulPavlinovich
Let's keep guiding and make the world more inclusive.
Xoxo
Emeka
With 💚 from Abuja,Nigeria!
It's great that Maitama is so accessible, and that you got to meet with your former classmates too. I really like your writing, it was very descriptive and entertaining to read.
@EmekaUlor Congrats on the fun meet up, and thank you for sharing it with us, and for mentioning me as well.
I'm looking forward to your next recap 😊
