Oh Lagos, the land of Hope

Lagos, the land of opportunity, I was born in and brought up in Lagos and I have spent most of my life in Lagos and I'm not really familiar with other states.

Lagos life has always been the type that most people from other state crave for because they keep hearing for afar that Lagos is a land of hope just as California is a land of hope and opportunity in the US and London in the UK.

I was cautious of my environment at a very tender age as I grew up on the street of Iyana Ipaja, which happens to be a very rough area. Growing up there is not really the problem but the kind of lifestyle you get exposed to at such a tender age which could affect the life of anyone to a large extent.

My street housed various people from various race and beliefs. 

Lagos is truly a land of hope and you can get almost anything you want in life if you are the hardworking type and you connect with the right people. Lagos gives you opportunity so many times and if you are wise, you are bound to make.

Lagos life is rough and it is meant to be live by the people who beliefs they are strong and are ready to live on with its madness.

People rarely fights in Lagos, you can only see them brag at each other. People from other part of the country who are new to Lagos always beliefs that majority of Lagosians are not accommodating and are unruly.

I was speaking to a friend when I went to the northern part of the country that you have a peaceful and less noisy environment as compared to where I come from. She replied me that "I heard that people from Lagos are are used to noise and busy environment". I just laughed and replied her that "That is Lagos for you"

I remembered my visit to Ekiti state, I wanted to board a bus from Ado-Odo to Ado-Ekiti. As I tried to stop the bus, it sped pass me and being a Lagos boy, I ran after it so as not to miss the bus. Unknowingly, the bus was going to reverse back to come and pick me up.

When I entered the bus the other passengers in the bus were like, "guy, why were you running after the bus, it will come back to pick you". I just laughed and said "Sorry, I'm not from around here and I don't know the bus was going to come back"

Someone who I think is used to Lagos life in the bus just replied "You must be from Lagos", someone added and say "bi won se ma n sa're le moto niyen l'eko (that's how they run after bus in Lagos)".

That night I spent in Ekiti, I woke up at my usual time around 4:00am as I always do in Lagos so as to beat traffic and get to where I was going on time. I quickly went to the bathroom to take my bath and ready to pack my back to go to Ado-Odo again so that I can return to Lagos that same day.

When I was ready, it was barely 5:00am and the cock in that area was just crowing.

I was like, by this time in Lagos, people moving from Ikorodu would have gotten to Obalende.

I called my friend whom I passed the night at his place and told him that I'm ready to depart, he said you wont see any bus until it is 6:30am and I was like "o mean e (You don't mean it)".

I could not sleep back till it was daybreak.

In Lagos, if you are creative and industrious, you can make it within a very short period of time and we tends to buy almost anything, so far you have good marketing strategy and nice packaging for your product.

Lifestyle in Lagos could be very rough, but if you are smart enough, you can always get by and live happily.

Another thing that always interest me in Lagos is the issue of agbero(tout) and onimoto(bus drivers). I always enjoy these scene almost every time and I always look forward to catching a glimpse of this scenarios almost everyday. If you are new to Lagos and you haven't witness this scenario, you really need to watch out for it as it is always interesting.

I have found Lagos to be very interesting and thanks to the state government that has been working ceaselessly in trying to make life better and easier for her people.

I belief that in the next few years to come, Lagos would turn out to be one of the most sought after city in the world just as London, California and New York City.

Lagos may really be rough to some people, it is the land of hope to many and the success story of others. Lagos has really been an inspiration to me and I look forward to having more from my state.

I am a proud indigent of Lagos State 

I am OMO EKO PATAKI

AJUMOKO is my name and I'm SHARING MY VIEW