Both the rich and poor in Nigeria are united by an obsession, drinks. Hannah Ojo writes about how taste distinguishes and defines class.
Down town in Lagos is Merriment Bar on Alves Street in Lawanson area of Lagos. It is a cathedral of sort for men who stroll in one after the other after the day’s work to, in the words of the poet John Fletcher, “Drink today and drown all sorrows.” Music booms from the loudspeakers, reverberating with sounds from current hip-hops songs. Once in a while, the new rhyme is put on hold for the euphoric beat of the inimitable Fela Anikulapo Kuti. This usually ushers in a new lease of life as the bar comes alive with older men echoing the refrain and responses after the music legend. On each table, the number of beer bottles far outnumber the glass cups. The long stretches of chairs and tables arranged on both ends of the street and another set leading inwards to a crescent gives the scene away as an Owambe gathering, a common feature of Lagos weekend life. Although the reporter visited on a Monday evening; it appears evening at the bar feels like a weekend outing.
Columbus Ndukamma is one of the men manning the bar; he waded through scores of merriment seekers puffing cigarettes in the company of their female companions who are gently sipping from bowls of pepper soup to answer the question posed to him. When asked the number of drinks sold on a daily basis, he gave the average as 30 crates. “The number increases on weekends and public holidays”, he added. According to him, the number of bottles in a crate differs from each other as they come in varieties of 12, 18 and 24. When put together statistically, this amounted to a total of 520 bottles consumed in a single day. All in a single bar and just on one street! The total cost of this will amount to N10,400 when multiplied by N200, the amount most beer brands are sold in this kind of location.
At a different level
At another part of town, the highbrow area of Victoria Island, a N10,4000 worth of drink consumed by over a 100 people is less than the price of Cristal Champagne which a ‘big man’ places on a table in a typical upscale Lagos Night Club. For instance, at the Troy Restaurant and Club on Victoria Island where this reporter visited, Cristal, a variety of wine is sold for N125, 000. Palme D’or Rose another brand of champagne goes for N85, 000. The cheapest of the brands such as Mort Rose (small) and Moet& Chandon Brut sell at N18, 000. There is also a new entrant in the Nigerian market called Montaudon promoted by Jide Adenuga, a business man which sells for N750, 000.
The prize for a bottle of champagne can go from the most expensive to the most ludicrous. Such is the tale of the world’s most expensive champagne ‘Taste of Diamonds’ which costs £1,200,000 created by Luxury designer Alexander Amosu, a US born Nigerian noted for creating custom-made items like suite, Blackberry and iphone which is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as most expensive. The custom made drink which design, according to Amosu is inspired by the superman style signature is hand crafted from an 18ct solid white gold weighing approximately 48gsm of solid gold centred by a single flawless deep cut white diamond weighing 19cts. The label which is engraved with the client’s name is also handmade in 18ct solid gold and weighs approximately 36gsm.
Champagne, a sparkling wine which originates from France is a drink that the taste buds of most wealthy Nigerians crave for. It is sometimes referred to as ‘bubbly’ as it possesses a sparkling quality caused by the bubbles it creates when poured in a flute glass, with which it is often served. Whether at birthday parties, weddings, dinners, picnic and other events, the number of champagnes available for guests to latch on to is considered a statement in the wealth status of the host.
Champagne is an elite obsession in Nigeria. According to Spiros Malandrakis, a senior analysts at Euromonitor, the research organisation which broke the news of Nigeria being the second fastest champagne market in the world, “ It’s not even about the middle class, it’s about the elite. People may find it surprising that Nigeria came second in the rankings, but it has an extremely extravagant elite, with Nollywood and the oil industry”, he said.
Confirming this claim, a worker at the Oriental Hotel, a high class luxurious hangout for the super-rich on Victoria Island told this reporter that Nigerians are the highest consumers of champagne at the hotel which also attracts a sizeable number of expatriates. “While the Chinese would prefer their Chinese tea, Indians usually go for Vodkas but Nigerians are the champagne consumers.” The source also confirms the class of Nigerian clienteles to be mostly oil workers from Chevron, Shell and other big oil companies. Also listed are politicians of different cadres, even local government chairmen.
As the rich pine after champagne for its vivacious effervescence, so are the poor and some members of the middle class obsessed with beer. However, the poor’s hankering for brewed liquor appears to be a consolatory drink to escape depression caused by hardship. One of the drinkers at Merriment Bar, Lawanson who identifies himself as Ayo said; “it is depression arising from disappointment that force men to drink”. Ndukamma, a bar man also testifies to the fact that most of his customers at the bar hardly stop at one bottle as some could go for four or more. “When a man has difficulties, beer gives him freedom and satisfaction.” He supported the fact that even paupers who hardly make enough to feed the many mouths on their waiting list still find money to drink. “Drinking makes you forget your sorrows,” he said. As if sensing the amusement in the reporter’s demeanour he promptly asked; “do you drink?,” perhaps to emphasize his point.
The Nigerian beer industry is reputed to be the second largest beer market in Africa. There is an ironical twist to the event that as beer consumption in developed countries dwindles owing to the economic downturn; that of Nigeria is expanding. This is manifested in the increase in beer parlours or ‘people’s cathedral’ in most streets in various part of the country, except for the north where there is a restriction, yet people still invent ways to quench their thirst for liquor.
According to analysts the surge in the beer market can also be attributed to a growing middle class and a large number of young people drinking most of who are also finding succour in the escapism of beer bottles to ease the tension of unemployment. Mr Nicolaas Vervelde, MD/CEO of Nigerian Breweries Plc attested to this in an interview in a brand magazine where he said: “a young population, a big population, growing middle class, growing organization, per capita, all fundamentals in that sense are indicating a very exciting growing beer market.”
The inclusion of women into the drinking class is fast fuelling the trend also. Mrs. Bolanle Ogun, a distributor of a popular brand of beer in Ibadan once said that she used to hide the fact that she drinks beer because people in the society frown at the sight of a woman drinking. Like other western culture which found their way into the Nigerian system; the sight of a woman drinking beer appears to be becoming accepted as they too are not free from depression.
In a couple of years, the country is expected to take the number one slot, findings according to Euromonitor International reveals. The beer turn over in Nigeria is said to be growing faster than the economy itself. “ At the moment, beer consumption is about 19.5 million hectolitres (a metric unit of capacity equal to 100 litres) in 2012 and growing at about 8-9 per cent per annum”, said Esili Eigbe, an analyst with Stanbic IBTC. Also, there is a forecast that champagne consumption in the country will reach 1.1 million litres by 2017. 2011 consumption was pegged at N8b naira.
What implication does this spell for a fragile economy? Mr. Temitayo Odeyemi, a social scientist from the department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University said the trend translates to a disadvantage in terms of foreign exchange. “We spend more, give more that we release which creates an unfavourable balance in both trade and payment,” he submitted.
Does champagne consumption really surpass that of beer in the country? In the words of Chinua Achebe; “The death that will kill a man begins as an appetite.”
