Pelu Awofeso is a Nigerian journalist, travel and culture writer, based in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, Nigeria. He is a winner of the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Awards in the Tourism Category. He is often described as "Nigerian foremost travel writer." He is also a published author.

Travel and travel writing

Awofeso claims to have become interested in travelling after a first encounter with the city of Jos in

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

of Nigeria in 1998. The encounter, which involved being awed by the beauty of the city as well as coming across "writing from the past by the British" who documented their travels during the times they lived in Nigeria as colonialists, inspired him to take up travel as a hobby.

I saw images from 1930s, 1940s, 1950s; they were so strong I felt like I was seeing that time. After they left I don't think many people were doing that any more. Those encounters seeded me to want to follow in their footsteps, to travel extensively in Nigeria and document what I’ve seen. It made me develop more interest in Jos and also in travelling, to also write about this beautiful place people have written about 50 years ago. I wanted to write something that could actually benefit society. And I had to think about writing about Nigeria in such a way that people appreciate the country. Not just the foreign audience, but also Nigerians.

Till date, he has visited over 32 states out of Nigeria's 36 and written about a number of them.

CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Award

In 2010, while he worked for 234Next, Awofeso won the CNN/Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Award in the Tourism Category.

Books and publishing

Awofeso is the publisher of an online travel magazine called ''Waka About''. He is also the editor of ''Route 234'', a book of travel stories described as "a collection of stories from Nigerian journalists detailing personal experiences while on journeys outside Nigeria" What it represents, "overall, is an intervention in a space where much more effort of this nature is needed." In 2010, he published ''Tour of Duty,'' a book "which documents ten months travelling the width and breadth of Nigeria, and tells the stories of people and places he encounters on the way, from the sand sellers of Yenagoa to hunters in Osogbo." His third book ''White Lagos'' was published in 2017, and it focuses on the

Eyo festival The Eyo Festival, otherwise known as the Adamu Orisha Play, is a Yoruba festival unique to Lagos, Nigeria. In modern times, it is presented by the people of Lagos as a tourist event and due to its history, is traditionally performed on Lagos Islan ...

which takes place in Lagos in form of a carnival.

Other activities

Awofeso, in 2014, also founded a group called "Beach Samaritans" who walk around beaches in Lagos for the purpose of cleaning them of debris and unwanted trash.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awofeso, Pelu Yoruba journalists Nigerian writers Year of birth missing Nigerian bloggers Nigerian journalists Yoruba-language writers 21st-century Nigerian writers