Onikan is in Lagos State.
In Onikan, the past, present and future collide effortlessly in Lagos’s historic district of Onikan. A cool wind blows through the private green spaces of its military barracks and its narrow streets, which represent an architectural catalogue of the city’s history: the colonial houses of the pre-independence era, the boom of the ’70s and today’s Western-style steel and mortar structures. The landscape is still changing: larger buildings are sprouting upwards, including a football stadium and multi-storey car park, even as creatives flock to the area in search of authentic surroundings.
You can take an Uber or Bolt to reach Onikan from any part of Lagos.
You can take lagferry to enter Onikan.
You can't take a bike to Onikan because of the ban on motorbikes in the state.
There are different means of transportation in Onikan; Taxi, Commercial Buses, Motorcycle popularly known as Okada, and Tricycle (Keke)
You should hire a tricycle or a motorcycle which usually comes with a driver, tricycles are best for touring the various streets within Onikan environs, for the major roads it is advisable to take a commercial bus or a Taxi for your safety.
Dive into Balogun Market, which sprawls in ever-changing locations across Lagos Island – just ask someone for directions. Lagosian markets are notorious for being heady on the senses, but a calm approach to them can reveal many hidden secrets. Once you’re done, seek refuge at contemporary art space Rele Gallery and women-only co-working space Tribe XX Lab, both on Military Street.
The number one place, hands down is Ghana High. This stalwart from the ’80s, at 15 Macarthy Street, serves up the best jollof rice, plantain and beans with your choice of protein. Go before 4 pm – they sell out quickly.
For a local experience, grab a local brew (Trophy, Star or Orijin) at Fisto Bar, 18 Berkeley Street. And you haven’t lived until you’ve been to hFACTOR’s rooftop at 26 Moloney Street for one of their STROBE safe space parties.
Located at 30 Ajasa Street, Plan B is a B&B and cultural hub that shares its space with social impact accelerator Mitsio Motu. Or head over to Victoria Island where you’ll find many accommodation choices.
You would most likely find a reliable coverage of the 2G/3G/4G mobile networks in most locations in Onikan. Signal strength is adequate at almost every point in the city, and you are less likely to experience network outage for any of the mobile phone service providers in any of the areas of the city. Bear in mind that different networks tend to be more stable and reliable in different locations of the city at different times, though all will almost perform satisfactory well in any location. MTN, 9Mobile, Airtel (Zain) and GLO are all available service providers. So if you are planning a visit to Onikan, you might not have to be so much concerned about the service provider to choose from as they all are reasonably reliable. But from observed indications, MTN seems to perform well than the others, though its rates may be high and its offers and services might be stringent, but you are less likely to be concerned of erratic voice and data connection compared to others. Airtel is another service provider which is fairly satisfactory for all you might need to connect to the world, including rates and network reliability. Of course, Glo (or Globacom) boasts of fast network speed for internet browsing activities, only that you might not be able to enjoy the privilege in some locations. And 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat) usually also performs well in internet browsing speed too but with locational limitations as well, plus data rate is fairly higher.