As the train’s alarm beeps and the automatic train doors open, it got me thinking that it must have been worse than hell when life was not like this. As it is right now I find things quite unmanageable.

We all waited for those on the train to get off one by one, and then we boarded in an orderly fashion.

I sat down next to this girl, who must have been in her late teens; she seemed to be suffering from anorexia and seemed like an emo wannabe. Something was just not right about her look, with her really beautiful dark smooth ebony skin looking somewhat like paper used for graffiti practice by the popular tattoo artists of “mushin”. She had on a pair of black skinny jeans, a tight black short sleeve shirt bearing the name of a new rock band called “ilu sango” and her hair was dyed green with matching green contact lens in her eyes. It would have been a great idea to chat her up but I already had my fair share of bedding strange women and had no intention to ruin this weekend, besides I was now committed. My eyes wondered to her chest for a moment sizing her up, when I saw the symbol of a warhammer on a drum, with “ilu sango” design on her shirt. The band had gained quite a lot of popularity these days, with the teenagers, but I found the lyrics quite distasteful. “Ilu sango” which translated to ‘The drums of “sango” were from “fiditi” in oyo state and sang in pidgin English, a Nigerian variation of the English language that was gradually becoming a common ground for everyone in the country.

As the Lagos metro started grinding to a halt I was jolted out of my thoughts, just when the pre-recorded voice announced our arrival at Ajengule-west. I still had a long way to go as I lived way out of town at the end of the green line in agbara. The scenery here had a sense of minimalist beauty, as the buildings were really plain but very modern. My father told me it was not always like this, he said years ago before the “epele” revolution, an oppressive mayor of Lagos had torn down ajengule as it was a ghetto, expelling the residents and had contracted out the reconstruction to his brother who had a taste for minimalist art and was an architect. The brother then rebuilt ajengule to one of the most beautiful local governments in Lagos . Unfortunately for the mayor and his brother they were found guilt of treason to the Nigerian state after the government changed due to the “epele” revolution.

Quite a lot of old money politicians were beheaded and a lot of pastors and imams too. The excuse the revolutionary leaders gave was that the religious heads were committing adultery with the politicians to enrich them selves and enable easy control of the populace.

The most pathetic of the executions was that of wahid dangota, who had been head of the Nigerian stock exchange for over 10 years. The state first confisticated all of his assets, then sized his passports, after a year he was then arrested and sentenced to execution by beheading.

I was suddenly brought back from my thoughts as we approached Mile-2, when suddenly the ticket inspectors stepped into the carriage asking to see everyone’s ticket. I had been forgetful, the past month and had been fined over 80 000 naira.

As I was checking for my monthly pass the inspector got to me, and then it hit me I had left my pass in the office, I thought to my self “not another fine”.

Robot  # 1 | 30.08.2009 18:52

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