THISDAY

MONEY ON THE BEACH... OBA SAHEED ELEGUSHI RAKES IN MILLIONS IN NIGHT BUSINESS

-

The much-talked about Elegushi Beach is the popular name of the sprawling playground­s along Lagos coastlines. During the day, the youths engage in different sporting activities there while petty traders do brisk business selling odds and ends on the sides. The length and breadth of the beach are lined with bars and restaurant­s operating from makeshift shops and ramshackle stalls. As dusk falls on the metropolis, the beach transforms into a virtual entertainm­ent ground pulsating with different sights and sounds that make nightlife memorable and racy. There loads of watering holes making waves at the beach. But this is also where Oba Saheed Elegushi rakes in millions of naira on a weekly basis. In the last couple of months, the fun-loving traditiona­l ruler and members of his council have been having undiluted fun, holding rambunctio­us meetings amidst a surfeit of drinks and steaming plates of

pepper soup at the beach. Interestin­gly, the palace, conducive and well-appointed, is just a stone throw from the beach. To gain entrance into this world of fun costs N1000 per person and additional N200 per parking space. According to sources, the management of the beach, pay in some millions every Monday to Oba Elegushi as what Yorubas called ‘Isakole’. When this reporter called at the beach around 1 am a few nights ago, there was no sleep on the faces of the revelers cutting across all ages. They mingled and bubbled with reckless abandon. It has become a melting pot for adventure seekers or nocturnal fun lovers who prefer an environmen­t where there are neither regulation­s nor benchmark as to the limit of fun they could have. Getting through the kaleidosco­pe of characters that dot the entrance to the beach was a Herculean task.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria