Japa people need to stop acting like Lagos is hell

My brother just landed in Canada and posted a video of himself shovelling snow at 6am. The caption said "freedom sweet o." Meanwhile I am sitting here in my Ikeja parlour with my window AC on, eating agege bread and akara, watching him suffer in a parka. Make I ask you something.

I have been to court in this city for 26 years. I know the wahala. The traffic, the noise, the landlord that sends rent increase text at midnight. But this idea that Lagos is a punishment and anywhere else is paradise? Na lie. You people are forgetting the things that actually make life sweet. The woman who sells boli at your junction and knows your order. The tailor that will adjust your agbada same day because she remembers your name. The church member that will bring you pepper soup when you are sick.

My cousin in London has not spoken to his neighbour in three years. Three years. And he calls me to say I should come and suffer with him. Abeg, which one is suffering? The freedom to sit outside your gate at 10pm and argue about football with a complete stranger? Or freedom to lock yourself in a flat and pray nobody steals your Amazon package? I dey tell you, japa is not for everybody. And staying is not a punishment. Who else still prefers their Lagos life to any other place?