AGEGE IS AN AMPHITHEATRE YOU MIGHT WANT TO TOUR

Agege: under the bridge. Credit: The Campaigner

By Davy Fidel

Freelancer/Author.

There are plenty of things to always say when you are visiting a place. It will be what you don't like about the place. The things you think are good, bad, or ugly to you. Or, those things that you are thinking about the place that needs immediate attention from the government. Is it the social life? The environment or other things will require those in the local authorities to start finding a solution to the problem. 

Agege is one among those places that will interest you to know something about it. Though, it is not a classic area when you are comparing it with the biggest cities in Lekki, Ajah, Victoria Island, and other finest cities in Lagos. Agege and these other cities are different from each other in planning. The lifestyle, the grooving, the business-oriented activities, the cultural way of communicating, and other interesting things you may be comparing between Agege and these higher breeding cities. 

There are always bigger differences when we also want to mention other things. However, there are interesting things you will want to know about Agege. The social life and the cultural lifestyle are captivating. The commercial life in Agege is a good story to read. In the morning, young men and women of different age brackets i.e. in the hour of 5 a.m or thereabouts, will come out with their items and start selling under the bridge. 

The railway is a good spot for these sellers to display their items. Left and right of the rail, they will be calling on people going and returning from work to buy what they are selling. Evening at Agege is an amphitheatre, especially under the bridge. The trail will be occupied by these sellers, who don't have a shop to rent and display their products. Before the hour of 6:15 a.m, they will go out to hustle for people to patronise them. Different things are sold on the railway. Clothes, drugs, food, and other household items. 

Is it in the evening? It is always a colourful hour, especially when it is getting dark. Different things will be happening till midnight. It is not the scary scenes but the interesting side of Agege life as in the everyday life of an average Nigerian person. This is after these sellers will start going to their different homes with whatever they can make for the day. The Agege under the bridge is a good spot to visit. It is a theatre for itself. The light, the noise, and other features are there and they will inspire you. 

It is a place that is revealing how people are struggling to meet ends need in the country. Agege is both for the old and young to display their talent for survival. One interesting scene is how the women will display their items on the side of the road. Or, is it the commercial buses calling upon passengers that will board either their bus or Keke napep? In this process, the drama is a laughable one. Sometimes, it is the other way around. 

People returning from work, their petty trading, and other engagement will be standing helpless and restless waiting for buses or the Keke napep to ply. The drama of hustling for buses going to their different destination is a funny demonstration. However, it is a serious matter. People will have to tear each other to board a few of the napep and mini buses calling their route. This is especially when it is dark under the big light mounted above all the people standing. 

Credit: The Campaigner

Sometimes when I visit Agege, especially under the bridge. It is always a lovable tour to see all these scenes. Is it in the morning when unemployed young men and even the old will gather at the news stall under the bridge to argue politics and sport? It is a scene that is also depicting the country's dreams are wasting away. Not only that, the Agberos will collect money from the bus drivers and Keke napep. It is a powerful show, sometimes.   

I find it always interesting each time I follow this route to my destination. The Agege under the bridge is not only the place there is life. Other parts of Agege will interest you to tour. The Agege main market is both before and after the railway. The railway is the dividing line between the left and the right side of the market. This is outside the residential area of the place. That is the up and downside of the Agege community where people are residing. 

The market has a lot of commercial activities. This also includes those selling food items. During the rainy season, it is a crisis for those sellers who doesn't have a shop. They will have to find where to hide their items until the rain subsides. The worse thing is that the items they are selling are perishable. It will be a loss to them because they will not be able to preserve it. This part of the market is on the right side of the railway. It is the part that is leading to the route of Oshodi. Another part of Lagos with plenty of drama.

Taking a tour to visit the market in the evening, you will see how hundreds and thousands of these sellers are on top of their voices to showcase their items. This is especially in the evening and also in the morning. These are periods when workers are returning from a hard day job. Agege market is like the Igando market. It is a noising theatre of different activities taking place i.e different commercial life of the everyday people of Lagos. 

On the left side of the railway is the high breed of Agege, especially the market including the residents. Left is a place connecting to the interesting places of Lagos you might want to tour. For example; Ikeja. Another busy heart of Lagos with commercial activities. Meanwhile, on the left side of the market i.e. after the railway. The features there are different to the right side of Agege. One example among the many scenes is the market. It is not crowded. However, they are all amphitheatres of Agege. 

Agege in the night. Photo credit: The Campaigner

It will interest you to tour the slaughterhouse of Agege, which is not far from the motorable bridge constructed. This is another place to feel the heat, the noise, and the impression of people communicating in the market. The smell of the blood of animals that are slaughtered daily is a tourist visit. People from different parts of the city including those outside the local council area come around to buy meat and other food items. Petty traders that are into meat selling i.e. the elero as they described are always frequent there.

On regular basis, they are visiting the market to buy meat in larger quantities so they can either hawk or sell at their precise location in the Agege Market. They are a lot of things to talk about in this laudable community with plenty of side attractions. But it will be like writing a book about it i.e. the language, the lifestyle, the etymology, and other fragments of Agege. However, what is important is that Agege has a lot of things that will require the people in power to address. 

The question of portable drinking water, the abandoned road construction that politicians have awarded but the money might have no record about it. The teenagers roam the street without something to engage them. This also includes other social dilapidation that is causing mayhem in the community, which are part of the things that are making up the life of Agege. Is it the school? The politicians just briefly renovated because of the upcoming election. 

Life in Agege like in another part of Lagos is workable and liveable if the needful is done. That is government uses the needed fund of the state to provide social amenities that can be collectively managed democratically. It will help to solve a lot of social challenges Agege as a community and people residing there are facing. However, the visitation to this place can also open your eyes to see the ups and downs of people struggling to catch up with the cost of living in the country.