For seasoned Lagos residents I can feel that smile playing on your lips as you saw this caption 'Lagos Life'. That happened to me too when I settled for it and typed it in. I smiled and shook my head - not necessarily because Lagos life is funny, but because it is a bouquet of sorts and of stuff. If you ask any Lagosian (that's our lose sobriquet for Lagos residents) what Lagos life means to them you are likely to get the 'where you wan make I start?' which translates to 'where do you want me to start from?' with that wry smile. And it is not for want of words that a typical Lagosian will ask that question in response to your innocent 'tell me about life in Lagos' request. Rather it is because, really, where do you start from to describe a combination of the sane, insane, and super-sane-insane porridge of a city life. Don't be confused by my coinage there - that begins to let you into what Lagos life is like.
Now, what follows after that first 'where you wan make I start?' will depend on where the respondent lives in Lagos. For the uninitiated, Lagos is broadly divided into two - Island and Mainland. Because this is not an exercise in geography I will spare you the details of the neighbourhoods these two divisions consist in. Rather I will concentrate on what 'Island' and 'Mainland' mean to Lagosians. And that has implication for their next sentence after 'where you wan make I start?' By the way, in 90% of cases, that first question will pop from a Lagosian irrespective of whether they live on the Island or on the Mainland.
Let us come back with the second statement of the Lagosian in response to your question in 'Lagos Life (B)' Meanwhile, please stay safe, and stay loving Lagos.
