If you’re heading to Lagos for your next vacay, you may want to consider taking your skateboard with you. The Nigerian city is close to getting its own skate park, thanks to the Nigerian-based skate crew/streetwear brand, WAFFLESNCREAM.
WAFFLESNCREAM describes themselves as the defiant ones, the limitless bunch, the extreme sports evangelist, and all-round awesome folks. The brand, which celebrated its 7 year anniversary in April, was founded by Jomi Marcus-Bello. In an interview with Hypebeast Jomi says his inspiration to build a skate park in Nigeria came both from experiencing a park in England and watching a friend build one in Zambia while in boarding school.
“I met incredible people that became my best friends. I thought to myself ‘I’ve got to bring this feeling back to Lagos,’” he said.
Lagos isn’t exactly a city that is known for skating but Jomi and his WAFFLESNCREAM crew hope to change that.
“People from all over the world want to come see for themselves what we have established, they want to be a part of it,” they explained. “We’re proud of the fact that society is beginning to accept us and the youth are now more active and confident. Everybody wants to skate.”
The crew launched a GoFundMe, in hopes of raising funding for their efforts, in March. Unfortunately, of their £35,000 goal, they’ve only raised £1,219. They’re also accepting donations directly via bank deposits or online via their website.
“If we beat our target, we will use the funds to maintain the park and we would also love to buy decks and setups to distribute to the local community and spread the love of skateboarding,” their GoFundMe reads.
If all goes well for Jomi, this will not only be the first skate park in Lagos but also the first in West Africa.
