Home About AISA What's New What's Next Admission School Life Employment Teacher Websites Community Newsletters Board Documents AISA Calendar AISA Video School Documents Contact Us

Shopping

Abuja, the new capital city of Nigeria has a wide range of shopping options. There are at least three traditional local markets, where a wide range of household goods can be bought at the most competitive prices. Prices here are not fixed in these markets, but the customer has to bargain with the salesperson on prices before a purchase. There are also neighborhood shopping complexes in all the areas of the town. These shopping complexes have a higher standard of infrastructure than the local markets and are made up of small shops. Some of these shops have fixed prices while some still encourage bargaining of prices. The accepted medium of payment is cash. Credit cards and checks are not usually accepted in these places. At the other end of the spectrum are the supermarkets.

There are a number of supermarkets that stock a large array of imported and local goods. These supermarkets usually have prices fixed and displayed on the shelves. Some of these stores accept local debit cards, but not credit cards. There is also a lot of street hawking, especially in the middle of town, at traffic lights. Popular items sold by hawkers include daily newspapers, phone cards and snacks.

Travel: Travelling in and out of Abuja is done either by air or by road. The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is about 30 kilometres from the city center. KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, Virgin Airlines and a number of other airlines now have direct flights to and from Abuja. There are also a number of domestic airlines that have connecting flights to major towns, notably, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu, Maiduguri, among others. These flights cost about N15,000 each on the average and last from 30 minutes to an hour from Abuja.

Worship: The main religions in Abuja are Christianity and Islam. There are Mosques and Churches of all denominations in almost every neighborhood in Abuja.

Security: The Nigerian Police has its national headquarters in Abuja. The police maintain law and order. There is police presence on most major road junctions in the city.

Weather: Abuja has similar weather to most Nigerian towns. There are two distinct seasons; the dry season, which usually lasts from October till April, and the rainy season, which lasts from May till September. There are few or no rains during the dry season, whereas there are daily tropical rains during the rainy season. The temperature ranges from 25°C to 30°C. There is no winter, and swimming is always a good idea!

Leisure: There are many parks and gardens in Abuja. These areas are known as green areas. They are mostly used for outdoor relaxation, with fresh fish and other local delicacies being served. Outdoor games available include golf, basketball, and soccer, which is played on every available patch of land. Swimming pools, lawn tennis courts and squash courts are available in most major hotels.

Communication: There are several telecommunication companies with service in Abuja. These are NITEL, the government owned national carrier that offers a limited number of fixed land telephone lines and GSM services; ECONET and MTN, GSM-only operators and Intercellular, a fixed wireless loop company. Apart from NITEL, it is possible to get a new phone line off the counter from the other operators within minutes. Globacomm, a Nigerian firm, has just been given the lisence to be a second National carrier, and will roll out their services nationwide in the year 2003. Phones and accessories are easily obtained all over the city.

Embassies and consulates in Abuja: Most countries have moved their embasies and consulates from Lagos to Abuja.

Radio and Television: The average resident in Abuja has four TV stations to watch. These are Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Abuja, NTA plus, Minaj Broadcast International (MBI) and African Independent Television (AIT). There are also cable and satellite TV companies that offer a much wider variety of viewing, using the DSTV standards. Popular stations such as CNN and BBC are available via these media. These are strictly subscription services, unlike the local stations that are free.

In Abuja, there are five FM radio stations; Cool FM, Capitol FM, Rhythm FM, Aso FM and Ray power FM. There are two AM stations, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON) The FM stations broadcast mainly in English, but some also have programs in the major Nigerian languages.