LAGOS

Yesterday, I went to buy some things from the mallam in the neighbourhood, after I paid, I noticed that it took forever for my change to surface instead a discussion was going on between the mallams and I of course did not understand what they were saying, I was almost getting pissed when he said "Aunty the money no good" I thought it was because the money had started to undergo wear and tear, sides, that's how I'd been given, I don't print money so I'm not expected to be having mints all the time(not that I'll mind though), but that was not the problem with the money, something worse. His younger brother who had no qualms about hurting a customer's feelings blurted out "Aunty, the money na fake, no be real money, fake, see e light". I collected back the money and looked at it well, he even gave me another "good money" to compare and lo, it was true. I couldn't even remember the person that had given me the money. So, I  had goods I had bought and no money to pay, the kind mallam allowed me to go with my market and bring the money later. It was all so embarrassing but at the same time  I thanked God it had happened at home and with someone who had given me the benefit of doubt. What if it had been outside? I shudder to think about it.
 Gratefully I took my market and went home to bring money; this time "good money" to pay. As I was getting back to the mallam's I met a spectacular tableau: a northern labourer with heavy cupboard like assembly on his head  was been harassed by one of the 'omo ni les' of the area. The labourer was pleading that he'd not been paid yet and as such had no money to give to the omo ni le, one of the outstanding things in this drama was the fact that the 'omo ni le' seemed to be in greater shape than the labourer and he was also younger too which means he can work too but no! he doesn't want to. He wants to rely on 'owo ni le'(ground money- as a Lagosian he is automatically the landlord of every walking space in Lagos, therefore as Landlords, they collect tax from every okada rider, keke driver, mallams that fetch water, in fact every wheel that uses their ground) This incident brought to my mind one of our students in Secondary school. One day after school, we saw him at the bus stop doing conductor work. That's how he started, within the month he stopped coming to school altogether and became a full time 'agbero'(tout). He wasn't the last and recently, I've seen more and more young people becoming agberos, in fact it's regarded by some as a very lucrative business now. However, I see a danger threatening the Lagosians and I wonder if Lagosians themselves are not noticing it. Gradually, they might begin to lose that edge of literacy and start depending on past glory. I fear a time will come when there might not be a Lagosian educated enough to be a Lagos state governor . As it is, some are already homeless in their homeland because of Laziness. Pity.