Hawking in Lagos

yinka ogunlami

October 4, 2016 9:37 AM

Hawking in Lagos

I know it has been in the News for some weeks now. I didn’t really pay attention to it, until my recent visit to Lagos.

Lagos is the kind of place that you love to hate. kinda like an addiction, you can’t live with it , yet you can’t live without it . For me, Lagos is like a bottle of very old wine, you can only take it in small sips. ‘nuff respect for those who live and breath lagos!

The noise pollution, for one, is unbelievable. The air pollution nko ? hian ! I am not sure I can live in Lagos, but I can’t live without it.

What I hate the most about Lagos is the traffic. This is why no one hears statements like “ see you in 30 minutes “, 30 minutes might be 6 hours! And because you are stuck in traffic, you might need a drink, something to nibble on, new CDs for your music player, I could go on. All these are aimed at making that present condition easier for you to accept as a reality!

Now the Lagos state government has not only set a ban on Hawking, the hawker, and the buyer is liable to pay 90,000 nairas, each. Like , seriously?

Okay, hawking is banned, what about begging? On the streets of Lagos, you find hoards of people, who have their reasons, some more genuine than others, but who are permitted to make a living while the ones who work so hard, running towards the slightest opportunity to sell, in the hot sun, sometimes in the rain, in the dark windy night, are not permitted to do so. Abi, am I the only one seeing it from this angle? Well, that is life and as they say, life ain’t fair.

yinka ogunlami