Baba God, Abeg Spray Your Perfume On Lagos!

yetunde oyeleke

April 8, 2014 11:40 AM

Nigeria's capital city Lagos is known for many things, good and bad... foul air is fast becoming of of those things.

Lagos dey smell and the odour is too bad to be ignored.

In fact, the odour in many parts of Lagos can be bottled up and sold as air grenades to kill people!

This is no joke!

Honestly, the first day I came to Lagos I couldn't breathe well for over 4 hours. From the very minute I alighted, at The Young Shall Grow's bus stop at Ijora (abi na Ikotun sef?), my nose recoiled as the heavily rot-laden air of the area met it.

A walk further down, towards the maze of overhead bridges, under which were open sewers, exposed me to further nostril-assault and I tried holding my breath – an effort un futility.

How long can one (especially lazy moi), hold his or her breath...at best for a few seconds.

As I walked to where I was told I could get a vehicle for Lekki, the air forced in the strong odours in huge doses, just the way nursing women force ogi (pap) into the mouth of uncooperative babies.

The only thing my brain could think about were these lines:

invasive malignant stench:

olfactory lobes clench

in inconsequential protest...

what an air to detest!

On my way to Lekki, one of the ‘beautiful’ parts of Lagos, I got assaulted again, just before the 3rd Mainland bridge. There, the odour there can actually kill a man! I don’t know if it’s the driftwoods you see littering the place or something else – the odour has a palace there.

And its not only in those places...

Bad air is what you get in many areas like Ojota, Oworo, Obalende, Jakande, Oshodi, Ikotun,... and even some parts of Victoria Island, where on Monday, I saw a heap of rotting refuse in front of Eleganza building, near Law School bus stop.

Habba!

On a more serious note, I think the Lagos State Government needs to do something about the smells in Lagos.

Uncle Fahola needs to buy a giant-ass perfume to be sprayed on Lagos daily, if the causes of the smells can’t be done away with.

It is air pollution, and like all pollutions, bad air is detrimental to the health of the people.

I would l to like to assume that Uncle Fash’s Lagos cares for its people and I hope I am not wrong.

Eko o ni baje o!

yetunde oyeleke