ONCE UPON A TIME
This Is my first writing on medium where the basis for the writing emanates from a picture, A writing that comes with so much Joy, hurt, and wish. This is a picture of Marina, Lagos, Nigeria in the 1960s/ 1970s. A place that is meant to depict a similar appearance to the popular wall street in New York City is now brimming with abandoned and dilapidated buildings borne out of poor maintenance culture which makes it contrast against the occupied skyscrapers, the road not as smooth and clean as it appears in the picture above, sometimes when it rains it gets flooded in the area most times because of the blocked and poor drainage system. The orderliness in the area is lost gone as the area is filled with tout and self-acclaimed area boys who disturbs hardworking transport drivers by collecting a certain fee from the little the drivers make.
The Joy in this picture is that there was once a time when Lagos was so clean and orderly. The hope of growth looked so visible to everyone that you will be willing to bet against your future self that Nigeria would be among the developed countries of the World in the 21st Century.
The hurt in this picture is that My Grandparents witnessed a more promising Lagos. A Lagos that came with so much fast-paced infrastructural growth, cleanliness, fresher air, and orderliness. They believed thousands of growths were still to come in Lagos long after they would have left the face of the earth. Despite my generation being years ahead of their time the situation still feels like an Irony. They would be disappointed at the stagnancy if they were still alive.
The Wish in this Picture prays on the perspective, mindset, and vision of Nigerians. Hoping we don’t give up, hoping we don’t believe that the situation is beyond remedy, hoping we don’t see it as a black man undoing, hoping we don’t seek solace in running away from the problem. Lastly, hoping we don’t curse the day we parted ways with our colonial masters.
