New Afrika Shrine
The open-air music hall run by the Kuti family where Femi and Seun still play — the closest thing to hearing Afrobeat where it was invented.
The New Afrika Shrine is the concrete-and-corrugated-iron open-air venue that Femi Kuti and Yeni Kuti built in Agidingbi in 2000 to replace the original Shrine that had burned down. It is not a museum or a tourist stop — it is a working music venue where the Kuti family still performs several nights a week, and where the Afrobeat rhythm that Fela created is played to a crowd that ranges from Lagos students to visiting saxophonists from Brooklyn.
The signature event is the Sunday Jump, where Femi Kuti and Positive Force take the stage from around 19:30 and play until midnight — three hours of hard horn Afrobeat, mid-set political monologues, and a dance floor that never sits down. Thursdays are usually Seun Kuti and Egypt 80. The room is open-sided, hot, smoky and loud, and the drinks are cheap — a Star beer is $2 and a plate of pepper soup $4. Get there early (18:00) for a table near the stage or accept standing at the back.
It is an hour's drive from Lekki in traffic — plan on a hotel stay in Ikeja if you want to see a full set without the return commute. Bring cash, do not wear anything you mind smelling of smoke, and do not bring valuables you cannot afford to lose. Tickets are bought at the door — $5 for standing, $10-$15 for a table. Combine with a daytime visit to the Kalakuta Republic Museum ten minutes away. If you would rather not drive back over the bridge at one in the morning, Welcome Centre & Hotels and Nordic Hotel Lagos sit in the Agidingbi and Oregun pocket a few minutes from the gate, while Radisson Blu Lagos Ikeja Hotel, Lagos Marriott Hotel Ikeja and Protea Hotel by Marriott Ikeja Select are ten to fifteen minutes west along Obafemi Awolowo Way.
The layout takes about four minutes to learn. You turn off Lateef Jakande Road onto NERDC Road, park inside the walled compound for nothing, and get a quick pat-down at the gate. The yard in front holds suya grills, plastic chairs and vendors; the hall behind it is one enormous open-sided slab of painted concrete under corrugated iron, with a raised stage at the far end, painted columns, and the Fela portrait wall on the left that everybody photographs. Off to one side is the small altar with Fela's image where incense is lit before the band plays. Bar counters run along the perimeter — Star, Gulder, soft drinks, chapman, palm wine. Ignore the back tables where the smoke pools thickest and the horns arrive late; stand front-left on the floor, six metres off the stage, where the brass section actually cuts through.
Getting here from Lekki is about 30 km and the single biggest variable in the evening. The clean run is Admiralty Way to the Lekki-Epe Expressway, over Falomo Bridge into Ikoyi, across the Ikoyi Link Bridge to Third Mainland Bridge, out at Ojota onto Ikorodu Road, through Maryland to Obafemi Awolowo Way, then Lateef Jakande Road to NERDC Road: 45 minutes on a Sunday evening, 90 minutes or worse on a weekday. Bolt and Uber run $9-$14 each way, but the return at 00:30 is the real problem — few drivers accept a pickup on NERDC Road at that hour. Agree a wait-and-return with the driver who brought you, roughly $25-$35 for the night, or have your hotel send a car. Danfo via Obalende costs about $2 in total and is not worth it after dark.
Costs are refreshingly blunt. Entry is $5 standing or $10-$15 for a table, paid in cash at the door counter — there is no card machine, no online ticket, no student or child concession, and no combined ticket with any other site. The table charge buys you the table, not the drinks: Star or Gulder $2, soft drinks about $1, chapman around $3, pepper soup $4, a plate of suya from the yard grill $3-$5. Parking inside the compound is free. Budget $25 for a generous night of drinking and eating, or $45-$55 per person once you add a round-trip car from Lekki. Bring small notes, because change is scarce after 22:00, and buy your entry at the counter rather than from anyone offering VIP access at the gate.
Timing, hour by hour: gates open around 18:00 on Sundays, a DJ and warm-up sets fill the room until about 19:30, Positive Force build for twenty minutes, Femi is on stage from roughly 20:00, and the set lands around 23:30 with the floor still going past midnight. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday run later, to 04:00, but they are DJ-led club nights rather than live Afrobeat. The quiet window is 18:00-19:00, when you can get a table, eat and photograph the murals in the last light. Month by month: October is Felabration week around Fela's birthday on 15 October, a run of tribute sets with thousands of people — arrive by 16:00 or forget it. December brings the returnee crowds and doubled ride fares. April to July the rain blows in through the open sides; January harmattan nights are the most comfortable of the year.
For the rest of the day, the obvious pairing is the Kalakuta Republic Museum at 14 Gbemisola Street off Allen Avenue, about ten minutes' drive and no walk at all — Fela's last home, his bedroom, his clothes and the rooftop, around $5 and an hour, open in daytime only, so do it first. Ikeja City Mall on Obafemi Awolowo Way in Alausa is eight minutes away and is the practical place to draw cash and eat before the gig. Ndubuisi Kanu Park in Alausa, seven minutes, gives you shaded lawns for an hour in the afternoon. Nothing else is within walking distance of NERDC Road except roadside suya and small bars, and Agidingbi is not a place to wander on foot after dark. Murtala Muhammed Airport is 20-25 minutes away, so a Shrine night before a morning flight works if you sleep in Ikeja.
The honest caveats. This is not a Fela museum: there are no artefacts, no exhibits and no guide, and visitors who come expecting the Kalakuta collection leave flat. Fela never played here either — the original Shrine at the Empire Hotel on Pepple Street closed after his death in 1997, and this building went up three years later. Femi tours Europe through the summer festival season, so check the Shrine's Instagram before making a 45-minute drive for a night that turns out to be a DJ set. Marijuana smoke is constant and there is no getting away from it; asthmatics and anyone travelling with children under 16 should skip it and do Kalakuta instead. Toilets are basic, the volume warrants earplugs, and pickpocketing happens in the crush after 22:00. Wheelchair users can manage the flat ground-level floor with an early table, but not the crowd or the facilities later on.
Hours & entry
Wed-Sun 20:00-04:00 · Sunday Jump 18:00-01:00
What to see
{'what': "Femi Kuti's Sunday Jump full set", 'where': 'Main stage, Sundays 19:30 start'}
{'what': 'The Fela mural and portrait wall', 'where': 'Left wall as you face the stage'}
{'what': 'Pepper soup and Star beer break', 'where': 'Outdoor bar tables, west side of the compound'}
Tips from the ground
Arrive by 18:30 on Sundays or you will stand for four hours
Bring cash — the door and bar do not accept card
Leave in a group and pre-book a ride-share for 00:30
Questions, answered
How much is the Shrine?
$5 standing, $10-$15 for a table. Drinks $2-$5 extra. Payment is cash at the door counter — no cards, no online tickets, no student or child rate, and the table charge covers the table only, not what you drink on it. A beer is $2, pepper soup $4, suya from the yard grill $3-$5, parking free. Reckon on $25 for a full night inside, or $45-$55 per person once a round-trip car from Lekki is added.
Are there free entry hours?
No free entry — every night is ticketed at the door. The one recognised exception is Felabration week in October around Fela's birthday on the 15th, when the tribute programme is often free or nominal and the compound holds thousands rather than hundreds. There is no late-entry discount either: the door price is the same at 18:00 and at 23:00, so arriving late saves nothing and only costs you the good standing spots near the horns.
How long is a Sunday Jump?
3-4 hours of music from 19:30 to around 23:30, plus warm-up sets. Gates open about 18:00, a DJ fills the first ninety minutes, and the floor keeps moving past midnight after the band stops. Add 45-90 minutes of driving each way from Lekki and the evening is a six to seven hour commitment door to door. If you only have two hours to spare, come at 19:30 and leave at 21:30 — that window holds the core of Femi's set.
When is it closed?
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Open Wed-Sun evenings. Live Kuti nights are the moving part: Femi tours European festivals for much of the summer and Seun keeps his own schedule, so the venue may open as a DJ night with no band at all. Check the Shrine's Instagram the same week. Nothing happens in daylight — turn up at 15:00 and you will find an empty concrete hall and someone sweeping it. Felabration week in October is the one stretch that runs daily.
Do I need to book?
Walk-ups accepted. For a table on a Sunday, message the Shrine on Instagram to reserve. A day or two ahead is enough outside October. Standing never sells out, so a booking is only about seating: the front-left tables go by about 19:00 on a Sunday Jump, and during Felabration week no reservation system copes at all. There is no ticket platform and no e-ticket — you confirm by message, then pay cash at the door. Use the same message to check who is actually playing.
What is the nearest stop?
NERDC Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja. Take Third Mainland Bridge and Awolowo Way from Lekki. That is roughly 30 km and 45-90 minutes depending on the hour, via Falomo Bridge, the Ikoyi Link Bridge, Ojota and Maryland. Bolt and Uber charge $9-$14 each way but rarely accept a pickup here at 00:30, so agree a wait-and-return of $25-$35 with your driver. Parking inside the walled compound is free. Danfo via Obalende costs about $2 and is not advisable after dark.
Doing good is the business: every booking through Stay Lekki funds one verified tonne of carbon removal — same room, same price, no markup.
Start Your Search