This is Lagos…

August 30, 2023

This is Lagos…

For every gbas there is a gbos. Lagos the Land of Opportunity, Where your Sanity is sometimes pocketed to deal with an insane situation and later on installed to fit the present situation.

No Perfect description fits Lagos than the aforementioned gbas-gbos Cliché….

To the business that runs deep even into the night to the Churches and Mosques gyration breaking forth into the Morning

The hustle is real and a real Place for the taste of one’s Patience and livability. each day your are not annoyed then it’s Christmas Day in August.

Should we Talk about the Traffic where you Spend almost half of your day on the road, where People wake up just as early as 3am inoder to get to their daily activities but spend the rest of their day in Traffic, Trekking has become the only option Just inoder to meet up with their next day Schedule.

The very fear of any JJC( someone who came new into a town) in Lagos is having a bus driver take a different route just to avert traffic thereby going through a not so familiar route, A route you have given your all, this few days to memorise , This was my fate on this Particular day, the normal route has always been, taking a bus from Coke to Orile then a Bus that takes you directly to the famous Idumota Market then you have to rigmarole your way to your destination. So on this faithful day due to traffic after I got to Orile the driver took a different route just to get to Idumota, Confused me in my state with only the transport fare for going in my pocket, tried to memories every street we came across, after every twist and turn the driver decided to drop us all. Since I was new I couldn’t make sense of where the Driver dropped us it was later i discovered it was close to CMS Cathedral. I could also read the sense of Confusion in two other Passengers and I said to myself silently you are not in this alone. Not knowing I am about to learn a new thing about asking for Destination in Lagos.

So my Plan has been don’t panic you could easily ask for Destination. So as I searched alittle trying to see if any of the street I pass by look familiar I gave up and decided to ask for help, walked to a Middle aged Man with a native slated attire and greeted him Politely then I asked him for directions and what happened next will forever be a Mystery to me. All in the name of directing me I felt a heavy slap on my Chest and a slightly followed slap on my back. I was schocked and confused, Uncle I am asking for directions and not to be beaten, just immediately after those slaps I Knew I saw him muttering some words to be direction but my brain was too disturbed to make sense out of what he said. Immediately I noticed his mouth stopped moving I said thanks and ran for my dear Life.

So for the next minutes my mind was preoccupied with what just happened to the extent I forgot I was still LOST. Afraid to ask for directions because of what just happened I later opted to do so from a muliebral breed. So I saw a Woman who I ascertain can be of help to me without Drama I walked up to her, greeted her and asked for Directions.. She laughed loudly and said some words aggressively and loudly in Yoruba. And it seems to me like someone was swearing at me for no just Cause. The rest thing she said was a Combination of Pidgin English and Yoruba to my utter Confusion. I hurriedly said thank you and I was on my way. I kept asking myself if it is a Crime to ask for Direction in Lagos. Cause at this Point I was tired, sweaty, nervous and Confused.

After this two encounters I decided not to ask for Directions but to Keep walking around till I get to my Destination. So I Kept walking taking every turns and twist as my heart will, till I saw someone I knew who had business close to that Place. I gave a heavy sigh of relieve and said almost immediately thank God

As we walked down to my destination, I told him about my encounters he couldn’t help but to burst out a