I live in Ilasamaja, a locality that has been stereotyped as one of the worst areas to raise kids in Lagos.
With the records of stealing, cultism clash, killings, and other social vices, one would want to avoid living or raising kids in such a neighborhood.
On the contrary, many have lived peacefully in Ilasamaja, raised kids who eventually became responsible in the society. So, why would yours be different?
Obviously, I will not recommend raising kids there if you have better options. But there will always be a better option even if you currently live in Washington, United States.
As humans, it is in our nature to explore, and it always looks good on the other end until you find out. Today, many Africans are bent on immigrating to Italy through Libya, a route I would never advise anybody to take. Ironically, Italians are leaving their country to other EU countries like France and Germany.
An environment will always influence you, especially when you are still growing up. Although, it has been a bit easier for folks like us to wage war against certain negative influences from the area. For me, I became a resident when I already a grown-up. So, it had little or no impact at all on me.
It is just like Ajegunle, one of the roughest areas too in Lagos. Many Nigerian celebrities grew up there. This is not a fiction; I have had conversations with a few of them who were nurtured in such an environment. They are employers of labor across the sectors in Nigeria.
You cannot take away the environmental factor. It was there and will always be there, but these men never allowed it to be a barrier. If they survived then you should. Move forward and don’t be a social misfit.
Let me share an experience with you. One beautiful Saturday morning, while I was pondering on *Man United vs Crystal Palace* match, a potential side-chick (early 20) decided to visit me. Maybe, she wanted to surprise me because it was an unscheduled visit.
*Gwan*! *Gwan* !! *Gwan*!!! She knocked. I stood up and approached the door. She was looking charmingly gorgeous. No jokes – the babe fine scatter. But I didn’t let her in.
*Why*? Her dressing was too indecent. I mean, the well-designed nicker she wore was revealing her focus membrane.
Without hiding my feelings, I politely told her to leave, that I didn’t like her dressing pattern. I saw the shock on her face after staring at me for minutes. Grudgingly, she left but I didn’t care.
But here is the reality – some guys would have seen it as a welcome development 😆 but I chose not to. As a principled man wey, I will be, I remained unshakable.
Certainly, she will get over it with time but the deed has been done. I felt sorry for her because she took at least two drops to get here. It wasn’t a deliberate action to be hard on her.
The fact remains that a strong signal was sent to that beautiful damsel and I am happy with that. I can’t wait to see how everything plays out in the long run.
Meanwhile, something strange happened, I never knew my landlord observed what happened. He is from Ijebu, a man whose money never drops even if someone close to him is dying.
“Oga Justice, how are you this morning?” He asked me. At this point I knew that something was about to happen. He requested to know why I send her away and I explained to him.
He commended me for being principled and wish his son could imbibe such trait. He left and returned about thirty minutes later and told me that – the duration of my rent has been extended to one month. This simply means that I will not pay for house rent the next month after it expires.
Conclusively, always make a difference because sometimes all that glitters is not gold.
*Justice Godfrey Okamgba* writes Lagos. You can reach him via godfreyjustice67@gmail.com