Lagos Matters

Hi People,



Na wa o! Na God dey save person for this Lagos wey we dey o.

Usually I wait till its really late before I go home from work, primarily because I cant stand traffic as it wastes fuel and energy, and because it gives room for mugging or robbery. Last night, as I was on my way home, at about 11pm, I decided to pass the Adeniyi Jones/Ogba route, rather than the Allen/Agidingbi route for reasons best known to my subconscious. As I turned into the WEMPCO axis of Ogba, I saw two young men holding their shoes in their hands, running, frantically waving down cars, and shouting at the same time. I was scared. I looked around and saw that all the other drivers were still going in the direction I wanted to so I continued. Then as I drove on, I saw a commercial bus parked on the side of the road and on the opposite end a young man stood and was speaking to someone inside it. The next thing I knew he raised up both his hands like he was surrendering or something. I didnt wait to see what else occured, I zoomed off with all the speed I could till I got home.

I've seen and heard of robberies severally in Lagos, but I was particularly bothered about this one because I was alone. And I imagined that if someone held me up and snatched my car, and all my belongings, I would be left to run around hysterically and senselessly all over the place, with cars zooming past me! As soon as I got home I began to ponder the level of insecurity that exists in this country. My first thoughts were on the feasibility of my relocating to another country. But the more I tried to decide what country I would move to, the more I realised there really isn't any difference in terms of safety.

South Africa is worse, it's just that they keep records of their crime. I remember reading a story of a lady who accosted a burglar in her home in Johannesburg. The guy fell on her and began giving her what she felt were hard blows, then he escaped. She later found out that he had found a pair of scissors and stabbed her ten times!

You can get shot walking the streets in New York, or stabbed in the streets of London, so what's the difference? The only attractive places seemed to be France, Sweden, Switzerland,and the Netherlands -before France dropped from the list due to its recent race riots- but what job will I do when I get there? If I get there?

so we just have to go on holding on to the belief that life is not a spectator event and that God preserves us to make that difference.





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