A returnee's experience of new Lagos

Title: Everyday is for the thief

Author: Teju Cole

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 162

This book is a funny yet insightful account from an unnamed “IJGB” who returns to Nigeria after 15 years away and all he had to go through before and after his arrival to the ever bustling city of Lagos. It opens with the narrator’s experience at the Nigerian Consulate in New York where he applied for the Nigerian Visa.

The book explores the level of corruption and sense of hopelessness deeply embedded in the Nigerian society, even outside the shores of the country as the narrator was forced to pay extra to get his visa fast tracked right under a sign that says “Don’t give bribes,” else he would have missed his planned travel date. Getting to Lagos doesn’t make it any better as he is accosted by airport officials who try to milk him by asking “What have you brought me for Christmas?”

Coming back with the aim of reconnecting with his past and deciding whether to stay permanently or not, he has to sit through a gruesome journey back to the family house and all its memories; meet with childhood friends and above all, realize that a lot of things have changed and this is not the Lagos he left behind over a decade ago.

The narrator is faced with the challenge of adapting to the new system of things while trying to appraise the city and make his judgment, most of which were quite harsh. Ironically, he discovers that Lagos seems bigger than it was years ago as he says: "The hallways of the house are bigger than they used to be. The floor is broad and covered with curiously soft white tiles. It is as though I have shrunk in the years since I was last here"

Each chapter of the book takes us through different settings, from the museum where he was greeted with derelict artefacts to the bookstore with little or no book by Nigeria-dwelling writers, but those written by Nigerians who have left the country long ago to live in other countries and even the market.

The narrator shows his eye for detail as he explicitly paints images into our minds with his apt descriptions of events such as an occasion where “area boys” boldly tried to extort money from his uncle and aunt, how the situation was handled and how he was charmingly duped by the fuel attendant while buying fuel for the generator.

The deep level of hostility probably caused by a history of violence in Nigeria is also explored in the book; at a point, the narrator sees a woman reading a book by Michael Ondaatje on the bus, rather than talk to her, he decides to keep to himself for fear of being rebuffed or attacked.

After comparing the present-day Lagos to the old Lagos he left behind, the narrator is forced to accept that the changes he noticed have taken place in himself.

Towards the end of the book, we are made to look beyond the shortcomings of Lagos and Nigeria as a whole, and for once, we are presented with the beauty and magic of the city in form of a group of coffin makers who had all around them golden wood‑shavings whose "bouffant" beauty almost undermines the grimness of the fact that soon a body will be laid to rest in one of those coffins.

Did he stay or leave? Though a return to Nigeria creates different emotions and a sense of kinship in him, the narrator chooses to go back to New York City.

Everyday is for the thief is a beautifully written, compelling and straight to the point as the narrator observes human interaction with vivid accuracy. With this book, you are sure to be taken back and soaked in the Lagos of everyday – the crazy, creative, buzzy, funny and heartbreaking occurrences.

It’s a great read and I will give it a 7 out of 10.

Afolake is a Content Strategist by day and a blogger by night. Asides writing, she has a passion for children and a great advocate of DIYs. She loves blue and her favourite quote is "This too shall pass" a saying which has helped her through many of life’s journeys.

She blogs about books, love, life, beauty and every other thing running through her mind at www.beautyandbooks.com.ng