Feeling Safe

As I stepped outside of my house at midnight last Friday, I decided, for some unknown reason, to take in some atmosphere. Just stand in the middle of the driveway, look up to the sky, breathe, and take it all in. As “middle class” Nigerians, a lot of us don’t really set time aside to take in our surroundings. We wake up and move from house to car, to office, to car, to gym (maybe), to car, back to house, to car, to a bar/club (on the weekends), then back to house. We love our enclosed, air conditioned spaces. Yes we do. But as I stood under the midnight sky, with a full moon looming overhead, I began to understand why. For even within the enclosures of my own compound, in what is arguably one of the most secure neighbourhoods in Lagos, I realized that I didn’t feel safe.

I looked around me - The generator remained as always, humming in the corner, giving light to our home as NEPA had not seen it fit to provide electricity for days on end. The illuminated house was beautiful; its magnificence amplified in the moonlight. But beyond the four walls of the compound; literally less than ten meters from where I stood, darkness spread out as far as the eye could see (or not see, as the case was). And Even with the generator engine revving, I could feel the silence; the quietness beyond our physical plane. A silence that signified that at night, Lagos belonged to creatures of darkness; to beings, tangible, and perhaps some intangible, that we would hope never to encounter.
Lagos is not a city where you walk around at midnight; a lot of us hardly walk during the day as it is. But on that Friday night it hit me a little harder; “This is the way we are going to live” - From the safety of our houses to the enclosing barriers of our cubicles in our offices (maybe a corner office if we work hard and get lucky), and then back again - Lather, rinse repeat – for the rest of our lives.

I always seem to draw comparisons to other countries, but can you blame me? Without comparison it is impossible to put things into perspective. In the UK or in the States, I had no fears walking down the streets at night to grab something at the nearest convenience store. Was it the police stationed by the street corner that gave me comfort, or was it the street lights that illuminated the path I walked? Was it the frequency at which I saw people doing the same thing I was; walking with their beloveds, or maybe even going for a midnight jog? Was it the fact that the nearest convenience store was never less than a ten minute walk away from my residence, or the fact that the store felt it was safe enough, and profitable enough, to be open that late? Maybe it was a combination of all those things that put my mind at ease. Or maybe it was just the fact that I was in a country of generally elevated repute compared to my country of origin. In many a street in the New York, outside the main city, crimes rates are high. Even within the main city there are train routes you’d best avoid after midnight. In Hackney, London, there is an alley called murder mile, aptly named for the fact that at least one corpse was extracted from the cryptic pathway every week. In fact, if you went for a midnight stroll in Lagos, chances are no one would touch you; the fact that you ventured out –on foot- at that ungodly hour would probably make most passersby more scared of you than you were of them. Just don’t sport anything too fancy. Wearing designer clothes and a fancy watch is just asking for it.

Now don’t take me up on that. I don’t want to be the cause of one of my friends’ untimely transformation into a tuber of yam. The streets of Lagos may not be that user friendly yet. But even if they ever got that way, would we be motivated to leave the warm, snug, refuge of our abodes? No NEPA means that the street lights will probably not work. A lack of midnight buses or regular taxis means that you can’t really get too far. If you have cravings for late night Mac and cheese, the nearest convenience store is probably a couple of miles away, and NOT open. So what is there to motivate us to leave our homes, even with the safest streets? Pretty much nothing. Now I’m not here to criticize. I’m not going to go on a lengthy spiel about how the stimulation of our night economy could increase employment, reduce crime and make the place generally more habitable. These things you already know. I’m just Captain Obvious, here to save the day – and by “save the day”, I mean just air my thoughts on how miserable I think things are while not doing a thing to sort it all out.

Maybe if I’m lucky some entrepreneur will see this and open a chain of 24/7 Convenience stores/pubs (not nightclubs) around town to get things going. Granted, they’ll probably have to have armed doormen, but hey, it’s a start.

Till then, I remain,
Captain Obvious/Pat II

In response to..

This post is in response to the Fiasco in which several Nigerians were booted off a plane as a deportation was taking place. Original article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/04/07/136-ba-passengers-removed-from-jet-over-deportee-row-89520-20375182/

Its a sad thing (not unlike several other issues in this day and age).

Begin rant:

Deportation is oft a result of on having committed a crime, and resistance comes somewhat naturally. He should have followed the eleventh commandment (never get caught). However, if the "jig is up", so to speak, resistance is pretty much futile. the individual should have stayed put and nothing else woulda happened (best imaginable situation). Obviously, it didn't go down this way.

I wont sugarcoat the issue. Nigerians are stereotyped by British airline staff as those rowdy individuals who always pack too much luggage, cant wait in line, and are almost always of disorderly conduct, be it pre-flight, mid-flight or post flight. And there is never smoke without fire.

Nigerians also have this mindset of being "opposed" to the airline staff in some way (in no small part due to being given aforementioned stereotypes), almost always backing up their fellow peoples unless they are outright wrong. And, being Nigerians, the intervention is almost always "ruff and tumble" (I told u, no sugarcoating). However, I still believe that the pilot's course of action would have been completely different had the passengers been British citizens.

As for the interfering “busy body”, it is human nature to avoid conflict whenever one can (unless you are one twisted individual). However, when dealing with the “law”, things are completely different. Any move on your part can get you slapped with an “obstruction of justice” charge, and the ball is almost always in their court. In my opinion, unless you physically need to take action (if there is blatant abuse of authority on the part of the law enforcers), its best to hide your feelings (however righteous they may seem). As I said before, if he’s being deported, he probably did something wrong. If the law enforcers need to use force, I’m guessing the criminal isn’t going quietly. I do not know if the passengers were informed that there would be a deportation taking place. I believe this would have been the best course of action: A message informing the passengers of the scheduled deportation and a strict no interference policy. However, if the interference from Mr. Omotade was just verbal, his arrest is in no way justified. It is a gross misconduct on the part of the British constables and may be actionable in a court of law. Then again, I don't know if the officers were influenced by the BA staff to arrest Mr. Omotade. In that case, the blame on the officers may be lessened.

As for the actions of the Pilot, I cannot base judgment on this alone. I do not know if he issued a warning to the passengers or if he issued an immediate unloading of the aircraft.

In a nutshell, this just goes down as another incident in the life which could have been completely prevented. Had the offending individual alone been removed, it would have all ended. Better yet, give him a tranquilizer and take him in quietly (damn right I endorse use of sedatives). I know the words we all want to hear in this argument: racism, stereotypes, abuse of power, etc. These may or may not have influenced this situation (who am I kiddin?), but all in all, it is a disgrace to our status, not as Nigerians, but as human beings. Such things should not happen, but my goodness, when don’t they?

End rant…