LAGOS: CITY OF EXCELLENCE AND HOMEBASE OF MADNESS

 

Have you been to my city? Have you been to Lagos? The city has come to be the home of many - easterners, westerners, northerners, and southerners. Despite this influx of residents from different parts of the country, the city has been dubbed a ‘no man’s land’. Lagos is a city that wakes you up to chaos each day. No Lagosian is privileged to the luxury of a long, sound sleep. A Lagos resident is hardly in need of an alarm when they are enough honks from the cars of the early birds to wake him up. This is a city that has no night; Lagosians get out of bed as early as two in the morning to prepare for the day’s activity and to also beat traffic. 

Have you experienced the traffic? The long queue? The struggle to get aboard the bus? The fight for a space in an overpopulated ‘moule’ because you’ve been standing the whole time? 

The pollution in Lagos is of another degree. All forms of pollution are abound; from noise to air to water, to any other kind of pollution you can think of. The smoke from the exhaust pipe of buses and motorcycles and the sweaty armpit smell of Lagos commuters is enough to knock out your respiratory system. The hard and fun life of Lagos is birthed in madness and only the hustler can survive the hardships. Sellers get into traffic to sell their goods and engage in a marathon race with vehicles on motion to make daily sales. This city teaches you to be street smart and wiser than your age; there is no room for laziness in this city. To survive robbery attacks in Lagos, your sixth sense must be functioning at all times. Someone might hit you by the side in traffic and suddenly your phone is gone; you might get a warm hug from a long-time friend you never met in your whole life and your wallet, phone, and money are gone. You do not learn these things in class; you learn it on the streets of Lagos. Only in my city will you see a man dressed in a 3-pieces suit and tie jump down from a moving vehicle. You are also likely to find a passenger with no transport fare fighting the bus conductor for not being treated well. In Lagos, beggars have a choice because it has become more of a vocation. Lagos is madness! Only in Lagos will all these happen and much more! Welcome to my city! The city of excellence.

See you next time.