Inside Lagos

Last Wednesday June 17, 2009, at the head of the bridge at the canal before the rowdy Obalende Bus Stop, I saw the corpse of a stone-cold dead young woman fully dressed in blouse and skirt. But nobody seemed to notice or care about her. Traders and shoppers were too busy and most commuters did not want to gape or mope at the horrific sight. I was moved to report it to one of the workers of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) nearby, but he was not even alarmed and continued with his normal work at the bus stop. Then the following day, at the Onikan end of the canal, I saw a homeless teenage boy sleeping peacefully like an angel in disguise in filthy rags. Passers-by were going to and fro and I was wondering if anyone of them could be bothered or concerned about him. People simply passed by and went on their way. This is Lagos, where most people live in self-denial of the horrific sights of human predicament and continue their merriment in romantic escapism. Most of them have very low appreciation of life with little or no respect for human dignity. They live in conceit and deceit.