This week’s photo takes us to a spot where Lagos life comes alive — baskets of giant prawns and fish laid out on ice, waiting to be transformed into pepper soup, grilled over open flames, or spiced up suya-style. This is Anuoluwapo Seafood Market AKA Falomo Under Bridge Fish Market, one of the city’s most unique food corners.
Long before freezers and supermarkets, Lagos got its fresh seafood straight from the Atlantic and lagoon. People from Epe, Badagry, Maroko, and even Ondo brought in lobsters, prawns, crayfish, croaker, tilapia, catfish, barracuda, crabs and more.
In the late 19th century, Ikoyi was carved out as a European residential area, connected to Lagos Island by a causeway at Obalende. At its southern edge sat Falomo — then a swampy fishing village bordered by the waters of Five Cowrie Creek. Here, traders and fishermen would stop with their catch. By the 1950s, women traders lined the coastline from Maroko to where the Law School now stands, making seafood trade a way of life.
Construction started in 1974, and by the late 70s, Julius Berger completed the 290-meters Falomo Bridge, linking Kingsway Road (now Alfred Rewane) in Ikoyi to Victoria Island. This link boosted movement and trade, while under its shade, traders found a natural home. By the early 1990s, after Maroko’s decline, it had become the go-to place for seafood in Lagos Island — a reputation that has never faded.
Step under the bridge today and you will still feel that same energy. Traders scale and gut fish with practiced hands while customers bargain hard for the day’s catch. Behind the open displays of fish, there is a central refrigerator — proof that the market has adapted to modern Lagos. Tradition still rules here, but technology lends a hand to keep the seafood fresh for longer.
Falomo Fish Market is more than a market. It is history, development, and the Lagos spirit — a reminder that even as the city races forward, some traditions remain firmly in place.
The post Photo of the Week: Falomo under bridge Fish Market appeared first on Eyes of a Lagos Boy.
