by Eric Blair | |
Are the baby steps towards greatness?
The second factor, people, is basically answering questions like, are the people good looking, of multicultural/racial backgrounds, and are the people friendly? The answers to these questions determine how you rate a city according to people. The third factor, music, involves the availability of a variety of music in pubs and clubs which is ideal when there is a place for people seeking a variety of music genres/sub-genres for instance, Afro-pop, Electronic dance music, Rock, Hip-hop, Reggae, and many more. Finally, the experiences factor is basically the chances or likeliness of having a night to remember for ages to come. Now that you’re informed about the metrics, we can get to it.
People: When it comes to the people, there’s not much diversity as we believe the city of Abuja does not yet qualify as a cosmopolitan city. It mostly attracts people within Nigeria with only a few foreigners although this is not necessarily a bad thing. However we would not consider the people friendly as people go out mostly in small groups which will stay the same till the end of the night. Walking around and meeting people in parties can be quite complicated as many would rather go out in cliques, stay that way for the night with little or no mingling. This has caused communication problems between mostly the Men and Women. Women complain that the guys do not approach them even when they give out obvious signs while the men complain that the women find turning them down gratifying so they would rather remain on their own. This is why people prefer to meet up first before partying together in groups rather than mingling in parties. It’s no wonder you see people on a single spot throughout the night with a bottle of Hennessy on the table rather than people with small beer bottles and pint cups which are necessary if you’ll be moving around to mingle just as it’s done in cities with great nightlife. As a result, we give a rating of 3/10.
Music: Music all over the city’s night attractions is mostly the same which is as a result of the people mostly being from Nigeria with similar tastes in music. You don’t go out expecting to find a party if you're interested in reggae, electronic dance music, etc., and the biggest clubs around mostly play Afro-beat/Pop and very little Hip-Hop. So if you’re a fan of rock, electronic dance music, etc., this city is probably not for you. Even if you’re a fan of Hip-Hop, you’ll find yourself standing for the most part of the night. In terms of music variety, the city’s nightlife is lacklustre and we rate accordingly, 2/10.
Experiences: Apart from spending exorbitant amounts of money and acting like you’re actually having fun since everything is so overpriced, there is nothing much to remember after a night out. You go out with friends, buy some drinks, stay together all night with little interaction with other people, and that’s about it. Because of this, many night crawlers look for other ways to entertain themselves which affects the clubs financially. It’s no wonder most of clubs are constantly rebranding and changing management as they are unable to establish a following and create unique experiences. A night out in the city is mostly the same and you don’t find people talking of memorable experiences which do not involve talking about the money spent in one night. If you’re out for a crazy fun night you’re better off organising a house party. We are still seeking “that night to remember for ages” Rating, 3/10.
Overall Score: 2.8/10
The city of Abuja may be great for many other things but nightlife is certainly not one of them and compared to other famous cities in the world, the results are even more disappointing based on the fact that Nigeria is a popular country in the World. If you got some time to blow on weekdays, looking for a decent party is more difficult than looking for a needle in a haystack, and after waiting all week, the weekend nights mostly disappoint with only a few good nights every now and then. Maybe we’ve been spoiled from partying in great nightlife cities or maybe it’s actually terrible even for people who have not experienced better, but regardless, we would like to know your thoughts. Keep searching for that memorable night in Abuja and please leave your comments below. Cheers.
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