10 incredible quotes from 'Blackass' by A. Igoni Barrett that would make you love Lagos

13:37 - 20 April 2016

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"Lagos was built from blood and sweat, and raw ambition. Abuja was designed as a playground for the rich."

1. On why Lagos is better than Abuja.

2. On the shitty transport system in Lagos

"Lagos, a sprawling coastal city had no ferry system, no commuter trains, no underground tunnels, or overhead tram lines, where hordes of people leaving work poured onto the roads at the same time as the freight trucks carrying petroleum product and food produced from all corners of Nigeria."

3. On overburdening Lagos roads

"The roads were overburdened and under-policed, and even in selected areas where road expansion projects were under way, the contracted engineers work at a pace that betrayed their lack of confidence in the usefulness of their labor”

4. On Lagos traffic

"Everywhere was jammed with traffic, cars crawled along at a pace that made the drivers faces tight with frustration, Okada’s tore through gaps that even the bravest hawkers hesitated to enter and petrol fumes from overheated engines thickened the air”

5. On sleeping on the streets in Lagos

“The street of Lagos is dangerous for everybody, and sleeping on the street was an option only for the insane, the gang affiliated or the suicidal."

6. On why you must be sharp and smart in Lagos

"Ogbodo ridin (don’t be stupid)

Ogbodo suegbe(don’t be slow)

Ogbodo ya mugun L’Eko (Don’t allow yourself to be taken for a fool in Lagos)"

7. On white men in Lagos

” A white man in Lagos has no voice louder than the dollar sign branded onto his forehead.”

“No fear, no cry again, my pikin, no be ojuju, na oyinbo man (Don't cry my child, he is not a witch, he is an oyinbo man)"

8. On why staying in Lagos is difficult

“Life in Lagos was locked in constant struggle against empathy”

9. On being a woman in Lagos

"Womanhood comes with its peculiar burdens, among them the constant reminder of a subordinate status whose dominant symptom was uninvited sexual attention from men”