Not minding the stench oozing out from the nearby canal, Edwin Nwani, 31, devoured every bit of the meal before him like someone who had just been set loose from days of starvation. Around him were four other people – a middle-aged woman, two men and a police officer. They paid no attention to the filth and foul smell all around them as well, as they proceeded in ‘cleaning up’ the plates before them.
Every day – between 7:00am and 6:00pm, individuals like Nwani find their way to under the Obalende bridge to have a taste of sumptuous, affordable plate of ‘Eba’, a local delicacy, at Good Time canteen, one of several makeshift eating joints dotting the landscape. A plate of the popular delicacy starts from as low as N150 here and so for many low-income earners, especially those working or trading around the area, under this popular Lagos bridge offers plenty of succour for their lean pockets.
Apart from the highly patronised ‘Eba’ in this somewhat strange community, known meals such as ‘Amala’, ‘Tuwo’, ‘Semovita’ and pounded yam, also enjoy large following. There is also a section for lovers of ‘fast foods’ like noodles, bread, egg and tea. Whatever your taste is and depending on the weight of your pocket, you are sure to find solace in one of the local joints across the area.
But beyond its vast array of food outlets, under the Obalende bridge provides attractions of all kinds that constantly ensure a steady flow of human traffic in the area. A vibrant bus park, a thriving livestock market, a buzzing gambling arena livened by the presence of a variety of alcoholic mixtures and hard drugs – it is a bizarre combination that together provides a bustling atmosphere for the most part of the day across the area. There are also shacks set up at the tip of the canal that now serves as home to many who trade and engage in other forms of business activities here all through the day.
“I have been here for over two years and I can tell you that there are always activities going on under this bridge at every period of the day,” Morufu Ojo, a lotto agent told Saturday PUNCH. “There is hardly anything that you want that you can’t find here. I live under this bridge with my younger brother in one of these wooden structures. While I operate a lotto kiosk, he runs a sports betting business. This place means everything to us because it is from here that we get our daily living and also lay our heads when it is night,” he said.
During a visit to this part of Lagos earlier in the week, our correspondent observed all sorts of activities taking place simultaneously even as more people streamed in to meet one need or the other. Young men of different ages with fiery looks were seen in groups of threes and fours either smoking hemp or helping themselves to all sorts of liquid substances as the afternoon sun unleashed its venom across the area. It is a world hidden far away from the view of many, especially the hundreds that daily ride above it in exotic cars and rickety commercial vehicles.
Interestingly, such vibrant atmosphere occasioned by a vast array of activities is not peculiar to under the Obalende bridge, it is a scene now familiar with other parts of the city where bridges exist.
Across town in CMS, one of the busiest parts of Lagos for example, a thriving ‘under bridge community’ welcomes you as you make your way into the neighbourhood. Though, there are no shack structures serving as residential quarters here like in Obalende, a handful of men and women together with their children have since made a home out of every available corner under the bridge. During a visit to the area earlier in the week, our correspondent observed at least three men and a woman sleeping at different corners while clutching on to their few belongings.
At another section under this popular Lagos bridge, bags, shoes, clothes and other fashion accessories were vigorously displayed while at a separate angle, auto mechanics had erected a workshop where they attended to faulty vehicles. A sizeable part of the area is also dedicated to the sale of food items, alcoholic drinks and cosmetics.
A trader, Mrs. Kemi Adejare, told Saturday PUNCH that the high cost of shops in most parts of Lagos Island was responsible for the growing number of small sheds under the CMS bridge where petty traders like her display various wares and support their families from the proceeds.
“It was a friend who introduced me to this place last year. I used to have a shop at Idumota before but I lost it when I couldn’t keep up with the high rent anymore. Instead of sitting and doing nothing at home with two children to cater for, I managed to secure a space for a shed here where I have been selling little items.
“Many of the men and women who have sheds here were also pushed to this area as a result of the high cost of renting shops in town. Though, there is not much patronage, at least many of us are able to feed and support our families from the little that comes in at the end of the day. But the only problem is the regular harassment from touts and local council officials as us of money all the time,” she said.
While the under bridges of Obalende and CMS were discovered to be havens for cheap alcoholic drinks and illicit drugs like Indian hemp aside from the other buying and selling activities that go unabated for most parts of the day, in other similar and bizarre ‘communities’ scattered all across the metropolis, the sight is equally amazing – each provides a different kind of the blend that adds colour to the entire mix.
Under the Ojuelegba bridge for example, sights of books, newspapers, magazines and academic materials displayed on large tables and wooden shelves are a common feature. Customers journey from far and near to this area every day to search for and buy literatures hardly found in other parts of the city and country. It is a vibrant industry that has thrived for several years.
“For the past five years, this is where I have been selling books,” Francis Obiora told Saturday PUNCH. “There is no type of book that I don’t sell. Some of my customers come from as far as Benin in Edo State to patronise me because they know that there is hardly any type of book that they want that I would not help them get. The business is not a bad one just that sales is no longer what it used to be like,” he said.
Apart from book sellers like Obiora, under the Ojuelegba bridge is also home to commercial buses plying various routes across the metropolis and also several kiosks where lotto, sports betting and other gambling activities take place. There is also room for merchants and patrons of alcoholic drinks who are either stationed at a spot or hawk their wares from one point to another in this distinct ‘community’.
At Oshodi, one of the most notorious parts of the metropolis, life under the bridge is a combination of the sights in almost all other places. Apart from the regular scenes of eating, drinking and smoking synonymous with many of such places, there is a cluster of public toilets and bathrooms that take care of the sanitary needs of those who turn to it daily and in fact call it home – bands of young men and women who engage in petty activities around the area.
Though, the place looked calm on the afternoon our correspondent visited it, a security man guarding one of the banks around the neighbourhood revealed that it is an entirely different picture at night.
“This place is not in any way the same at night with what you see during day time. If you come here at night, you will see all sorts of activities going on. Small boys and girls would be smoking openly and even having sex without minding that anybody could see them. Even as a security man, I am always careful when I pass through under the bridge at night. The place could be very dangerous at that time of the day,” he said.
Apart from Obalende, CMS, Ojuelegba and Oshodi, under bridges in other parts of Lagos, especially within the metropolis, have always had strange and sometimes amazing sights connected to them. While in places like Ijora and Mile 2, it is home to a variety of businesses and bus parks, in Maryland for instance a robust and vibrant cane weaving and sculpture industry exists.
Town planning expert, Anayo Ogunbo, though, appreciates these bizarre sights from the under bridges of Lagos, equates this phenomenon to the shortage of land within the city and also the high cost of renting shops.
According to him, the twin factors of high rent and shortage of land have contributed to pushing many people to either live or trade under the bridges these days.
“If you look at Lagos as it is now, there is hardly any available land within the city again except you are going to buy from an existing owner and that would cost you several millions, if not billions. How many people can afford that?
“Also, renting a shop or small space to do business in Lagos these days is very expensive, so for those who cannot afford this, part of the alternatives is to settle for a portion under some of these bridges where they can engage in little buying and selling activities to sustain their families.
“I think part of the ways we can solve this problem is for government to maximise every available space for the benefit of the masses. For example, government should convert some of these abandoned structures into affordable lock up stalls. That way, many of the guys under these bridges can get a shop for themselves and quit those places,” he said.
During the administration of former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, a massive clear out operation was conducted across under most bridges in the city. Occupants of such places were evicted while the areas got improved facelifts.
However, hustling and bustling has since resumed in many of these places today, with dozens of individuals and families in fact building a home and thriving community under these bridges. Indeed the sight under Lagos’ bridges could be described in three simple words: good, bad and ugly.
-PUNCH
