Living with the pandemic in a city like Lagos

Hey guys, I'm back again. Bee(a friend of mine) is taking the wheel though today. She'll do her own intro don't worry. Enjoy 

Have you ever been stranded on the famous third mainland bridge with zero hope of moving forward or backwards? That, my friends, is one of the norms of living in Lagos. I’m Bee (The African Bee) by the way, and you can check out my blog _here_ (theafricanbee.com.ng). I’m so excited to finally be writing here. Thank you Gbenga!  I really want to talk about an issue that affects us all. Whether we like it or not, we’re going to have to live with this pandemic for a while. As a typical Lagosian, please how’s that supposed to work?

Lagosians spend most of their time at work, only to end up spending the rest in the traffic. The average lagosian gets up as early as 5am because they’re very much concerned about how they would put food on the table of the ones they love. These are the things that are of utmost priority to a lagosian and now they have to add Coronavirus to it.

A few weeks ago, the lockdown was eased and people have been returning to their different places of work. The different rules to be followed to ensure our lives are preserved were made and we’ve been encouraged to follow them. We need to have our masks on, as well as the alcohol-based sanitizers. There’s also a curfew that helps to ensure that we remain indoors when we don’t have important things to do outside. Unnecessary gatherings are still not allowed in order to ensure social distancing.

Generally speaking now, in a country like Nigeria, where the citizens receive little or no support from the government, adjusting would be difficult. Yes, adjusting. That’s the right term. Seeing that everyone’s concern is how to make ends meet, there are already priorities. And I’m sorry, coronavirus might just not be number one. Having to get used to wearing a mask and having sanitizer on you every time you step out might be a bit difficult. Remembering to have them with you isn’t much of an issue as buying them is. People have taken it upon themselves to make money off this pandemic. The price of masks and sanitizers are outrageous. Some tailors have also decided to make use of the extra fabrics in their shops to make extra cash without even making sure that it’s the right one. Don’t get me started on the different ridiculous excuse for nose masks that people have been wearing. Why are people covering just their mouths? I’ve seen a lot of funny looking masks. Well, at least some people are actually putting in effort to protect themselves. A lot of people don’t even wear masks at all. 

About two weeks ago, I was at Yaba. It was normal. My Unilag people will understand what I mean by normal. Yaba boys are still grabbing people! Even with the situation of things, they were still grabbing me to come and buy _indomie top_. It’s crazy how a lot of people are so ignorant about this whole Corona virus issue. Those that aren’t even completely ignorant would rather just make up excuses to feel better about their decision to ignore the safety rules. A lot of people have just decided to come to the conclusion that the Government is lying about the disease. Anything to make themselves feel better. I don’t know what’s true anymore but prevention is better than cure. I was going to take a picture just to show you guys  but I just wanted to get out of there. I held on tight to my sanitizer and I didn’t dare remove my face mask. People were staring at me like I was an alien because of the mask. 

Dear coronavirus, you’ve got absolutely nothing on Lagosians. Well, except you’re not so dear and we want you out of our lives. Anything that can stop Lagosians from turning up on Friday nights and going to Owambe on Saturdays isn’t welcomed.