Confusingly business meetings and work related encounters tend to run on time. So if you stick to naija time for these then you will look unprofessional and probably irritate someone you work for. Similarly most expats still stick to 'normal' time.
Obviously I perpetually get it wrong. I am not, and have never been, the best time keeper in the world and so here in Lagos I find it even harder than usual to get it right. I can't seem to avoid the embarrassment of arriving early at functions nor being late for work and work related things.
This weekend my friend and I were invited to attend a fashion show at a local hotel. It sounded fun but started at 3pm. We discussed, and decided a good time to go would be around 5.30. We thought that people would have arrived by then and the catwalk would just be starting. How wrong we were. For some reason we didn't get the memo that the fashion show would start around 6.30 and would be pretty rubbish. The after party would start at 8.30 and get going around 9.30. My friend and I sat like a couple of melons waiting for something to happen for an hour or so before we decided to give up. Our Saturday night plans changed drastically and we resorted to pizza and beers with a poolside setting. We were too embarrassed to go back for more fashion.
On the flip side I was invited, by an expat couple who have lived in Nigeria for over five years, to a dinner party at their house this week. I was told to come for around 7.30. I presumed that they would work to naija time as they have been here so long. I got stressed about being late/early so opted for being a cool 45 mins late. I walked in half way through the starter and realised they had sent a search party out looking for me in case I was lost.
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