Last week was the last straw that broke the back of the Okada for me. I spent a whopping five hours in the traffic. I was going for a programme and then got stuck in the traffic and still did not make it in good time.
From where I stood around Ojota bridge, I saw the troublesome Lagos traffic and I asked whether anything different ever happened in Lagos. The days change into nights but nothing really changes. It is all the same story in the life of a city.
Last year, the traffic was just this bad. Because we did not solve our problems then, they have multiplied and come to meet us this year. I can imagine what the story will be next year.
With the huge volume of cars going and coming out of Lagos, I wonder whether anything ever reduces the city. Lagos seems as infinite as the sea. The sea gives out water, takes in water from the atmosphere and never seems to reduce in spite of the dry weather days and that is the story of Lagos as well.
People stream in and out of Lagos daily yet the city is still not reduced. It is still its rowdy, clumsy and almost majestic self.
This year’s Xmas is not going to be too different, I know. The days leading to it are going to it are going to be busy as frenetic activities of last minute shopping take up space and time. In fact, the signs are already there. The roads will get busier very soon, become more jam packed and even more dangerous, in fact.
If I don’t spend Xmas in Lagos, what do I miss? The cinema and the beach. I will also miss the Xmas lights (powered by generators) which light up my stressed eyes when I am returning home from work at night.
If I go to my village, what do I get? Some peace and quiet. I also get to meet friends and family; I get communal living and sharing unlike Lagos where social spaces and artificial boundaries of city life prevent people from getting too close. In fact, in my village, I get a chance to laugh with everybody and relax, without the fear of getting into traffic and being harassed by the city.
Also, my village is very safe. Unlike Lagos, I can sit out all nights with my people without the noise of generators. All gens in my village go off latest 11pm. We spend the rest of the time outside listening to crickets and watching the moon sail across the sky. We tell stories of the city and laugh off all our harassment.
I am going to my village for Xmas. No point staying in Lagos, the city will not miss me.
See you all next year.
Merry Xmas!
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