The City That Eats Before You Do
By 5:30 a.m., Lagos is already awake, and so is the struggle. Before the first light settles over the rooftops, Daniel is standing by the roadside, staring at the approaching buses and counting the money in his palm. Yesterday, the same amount could take him to work and leave something for breakfast. Today, it is barely enough for the journey. He steps into the crowded bus anyway, squeezed between strangers carrying their own calculations,rent, school fees, food, electricity, debt. Nobody says much. In Lagos, silence has become another way of saying, I am trying to survive too.
By the time Daniel gets home at night, his salary has passed through so many hands that little remains of it. Transport took its share. Lunch took another. A forgotten bill waits on the table like an unpaid debt to tomorrow. He opens the fridge and finds more space than food. For a moment, he stands there quietly, then closes the door. Tomorrow will come early, and Lagos will ask for its money again. For millions like Daniel, survival is no longer about living well—it is about making sure there is enough left to wake up and try again.
© Oluwatoyin Hawal Momolosho is a Nigeria Investigative journalist, political analysis, Fact checker, and storyteller.
He can be reached via oluwatoyinhawalbolaji@gmail.com
