by Njideka Akabogu

Why then do people keep coming? Why did I come? Why couldn’t I have stayed back in Abia State? 

“What are you doing here? You never hear say Lagos don full?” That was how my brother greeted me when he came home from work that evening to see me sitting in his living room; We laughed it off even as it occurred to me that there just might be some truth in that particular statement… Lagos don full.

And as I stepped out the following morning, it really dawned on me that this city is really filled. The signs were everywhere; it was evident in the many people that were on the pedestrian bridges that I walked through and in the never-ending traffic jams that clogged the roads. Why then do people keep coming? Why did I come? Why couldn’t I have stayed back in Abia State? Where the roads aren’t as clogged and I didn’t have to wake up by five o’clock to meet a nine o’clock appointment, and the bus drivers and conductors weren’t nearly as aggressive, nor the cost of transportation quite as high? Okay, I know about Lagos being the business hub of the country and tales of the numerous opportunities that abide herein and all that make for good argument. But these do not discredit the fact that the city is also the hub of unemployment; a testimony to my brother’s “Lagos don full” proposition. So, why is Lagos usually the first choice when one graduates and starts preparing to enter the labor market? Is this market confined only to Lagos State? I think not! You see, I’ve been to other states in Nigeria and I’ve seen lots of people doing remarkably well in their chosen fields in these states, which serves to say that the labor market isn’t just a Lagos thing. And if truth be told, I’ve seen poverty here like I’ve never seen anywhere else.

So, why can’t I leave? Why have I (and of course a whole lot of other people) decided that this is where we want to build our life, our career and what not? Why here and not in other states where we could have a relatively peaceful life? All these and a whole lot were the thoughts on my mind as I made my way through the streets of Lagos and nearly got run over by one of those yellow buses and the conductor rained abuses on me like it was going out of fashion. But, of course most of the ranting was in Yoruba and I couldn’t make sense of what he was saying, though I was able to pick “oloshi”. I laughed and it suddenly dawned on me that this was what I loved about this city.

You see, I’ve been coming to Lagos every chance I get since I was twelve and it still hasn’t lost its appeal. The endless hooting of horns and the constant bantering of the bus conductors with their croaking voices that never really let you understand what they’re saying, is the reason I love this place. I love the “hustling and bustling” and the fact that everyone always seem to be in haste. I love the endless streams of events and parties. I love the fact that I can go to a place and run into someone, who before now I only saw in the magazines and on TV. I’m not sure I love sitting in the traffic for hours for a ride that shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes, and I’m not sure I will ever get used to it. And though most nights I go to bed feeling so worn out and like I can’t take it anymore, I’ve come to accept that there is no place I’d rather be, because there’s really no other city quite like lagos! And no matter how filled up Lagos is, there seem to always be space for one more person. Long Live Lagos!

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