Night Clubs That Are On History’s Dump

Uzo Chikere

Revelers used to have problem choosing what night club to hang out. Guys and dolls eager to stay out the night and mingle would engage each other in debate as to which of the celebrity hang-out to patronise hours on end. Then night clubs competed for spaces and locations in Lagos and other cities of Nigeria. From Surulere through Yaba, Apapa, Ikeja, to Maryland as well as Ikoyi and Victoria Island as well as other parts of the country were these fun spots administering to the needs of revelers. Presently, it is hardly the case in the centre of excellence and elsewhere. Where they still exist, they operate haphazardly.

What obtain now are outfits masquerading at best, as night clubs whilst presenting motley of services ranging from music presentation, car wash, drinks to even barbing saloons and barbecue.   

The celebrity hangouts then were robust in delivering the full services required of fully fledged night clubs and providing opportunities for budding artistes to showcase their talent which earned many of them recoding deals with notable recording companies. Today, they have all gone under. Some that have struggled to remain have become mere events centres.

There was in Maryland, Lagos in the ‘80’s, Lords Club, regarded as the most prestigious amongst its types. Located on Ikorodu Road, Lords was powered by elite membership of socialites whose periodic renewal fees supported the effective and efficient running of its affairs just as artistes’ performances which attracted admittance fee by the public boosted sales of drinks and other edibles on weekends. Being a card-carrying member of Lords smacked of class and real taste. All that has become history.

Nigerians generally love night clubbing to the extent that people occupying leadership positions in government and the private sector also avail themselves any available opportunity to scoop the the benefits of night-outs in these clubs.

Peak Night Club was one of them back in the days, and it reigned supreme on Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere. Although it perched on a one of Nigeria’s foremost commercial banks in a three-story affair, Peak which was at its peak in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, enjoyed huge patronage both on week days and weekends, attracting massive crowd of revelers that sought real entertainment through music from the wheel of steel manned by DJ Prince 2000, assorted drinks, consorting with women and lapping it up with hot dog available at bugger shops dotted within the premises of then Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Complex. Peak Night Club is no more.

So also is Class Night Club which provided classy fun for “class mates” on Awolowo Way, Ikeja. The club founded in the ’80’s by all round entertainer and compere, late John Chukwu and some friends, was also membership based. Its members comprising top professionals, business moguls, top civil servants among other people of good means, were christened Class Mates. Class indeed, provided for Lagos socialites a veritable avenue and venue to generally unwind, catch the much needed fun in those days of the military jack boot and the era of austerity measure. John Chukwu seemed to have died with the club he founded.

The Custom officer founder of Roots Nite Club is very much alive and kicking but the club tucked away right inside Ipodo community in Ikeja barely exists in a one storey building. The club which has perpetually struggled to survive, despite going ahead to rebrand with the name, New Roots Night Club is quite a shadow of itself. Safe for the dance floor, large speakers and what would only pass for a semblance of rope lights, Roots has no service that tallies with those associated with real night clubs. The emphasis here is serving beer, fried meet, pepper soup and ladies for the taking in any of the rooms up-stairs.   

Wzobia Nigth Club is not any different. Located in Apapa, it used to be the place to go every weekend. But the place has completely lost all that made it a night club. Apart from massive sales of drinks, roast beef, and ladies hunting for male preys, coupled with highly noisy music, it is presently bereft of any modicum of activity with which to identify the place as a night club. The decency associated with night clubs has long deserted the place, leaving it as just a tavern.

The stories of these night clubs may be reminiscent of those of the ancient empires that rose to their peaks and eventually declined, bringing to mind Nite Shift which later became Coliseum inside Opebi, Ikeja. Described not too long ago as the largest celebrity hangout in Africa, it is presently sliding from its height. At the moment, Coliseum that introduced membership in different categories of ordinary, silver, and gold, is more into hosting events. The high wire programmes it used to stage have all gone to bed. Such projects as Grand House Reception, Nollywood Night among others have given way to wedding receptions, birthday parties and the likes.

Across the country night clubs kept coming and going over time. Joekeh Night Club was based on Tafawa Balewa Way, Jos and used to attract quite a large crowd of fee-paying fun seekers. Floated by successful business man, Joseph Kehinde, the club occupied in the minds of its patrons, a symbol of class and prestige. A visit to Jos without hanging out in Joekeh at the time meant that the trip was incomplete. That was in the past, as it has gone into oblivion presently. As these clubs jostled for spaces in every city, so also were they destined to be consigned to the huge hip of history in time.

Hornolulu Hyke had its place on Zaria Road, Jos where it was the night club to beat in its hay days. But it suffered the same fate. Some of the artistes that later became big started miming their songs at Hornolulu Hyke. With its clientele base as largely successful traders and business men, the club was in good stead to provide quality services that could equal those of its kind anywhere. But time and age, as they say do not favour beauty, so unable to sustain such services on account of poor management, it went down.

Hamdala Night Club was the delight of any upwardly mobile youth in Kaduna. The club which reigned in the ‘80’s changed the views of those who held that the northern city was just about government administration and civil service. Hamdala in its days provided a very convivial and vibrant atmosphere for residents of Kaduna to dance, drink, eat and network. The music unleashed via the turntable was sweet and a lively crowd gathered for the revels. Today, it is a by-gone.

Change Nite Club was located at Dogon Karfe, Jos. The club seemed to have emerged at the time to bring a change in night clubbing with its first ever pit dance floor. For the innovation it brought to the scene, everybody was eager to be part of the happenings at Change. Those who considered themselves as fashionable and possessing the where with all trooped to the club to catch their fun big time. Change really took the Tin City by a great storm. But it was never meant to last forever, and so the party was over and the lights were out. 

But it is natural that there will always be an end to a beginning. What might have led to the demise of some of these fun hangouts is not specific.  However some followers of the entertainment industry hold that lack of innovative ideas could be responsible for their decline, arguing that when promoters of such business which thrives on ideas run out of such it will certainly crumble.

According to Jude Nwauzo, a former entertainment journalist, those clubs that made waves over the years are going down or went down is not totally different from the Nigerian attitude of doing business, which is largely short term in nature. Jude further pointed out that “most businesses in Nigeria including investors in night clubs start such business plans and so from the beginning, they not sustainable”.

The cost and difficulty of doing business in Nigeria, he said, cannot be ruled out in this case, adding that the deteriorating security situation in the country which has gradually and deeply affected night life in most major cities are factors contributing to the closure of some of these clubs. Again, when this business largely depends on generators which consume fuel coupled with hash economic environment that adversely affects patronage, many promoters would be bound to be discouraged and eventually their clubs start folding up.

Another reason advanced is the fact that many of the night clubs were established as a means of diverting public’s attention from the main concern of some of the owners which may not be too decent in a civilized society. A regular night clubber in the ‘80’s who spoke on condition of anonymity, made this assertion even as he insisted that some the owners in that category would rather focus their attention on other issues when feel there was no more need for the night club which shielded them from the prying eyes of the public.

Despite their decline, the beat still goes on as new clubs keep springing up in cities across the country.