Picture this. You’re in traffic, seated in the Toyota Corolla that you’ve been using for three years now. Taking it out these days is hard because fuel prices are insane. On top of that, you’re stressed about spending money every two weeks to fix the car.
You look to your right and you see the latest Range Rover, with someone chilling in it, barely perturbed by the traffic. You scoff slightly, and think to yourself, “Money good o!”This person is a real-life rendition of what it’s like to make it in Nigeria. They’re the unnamed subject of most Afrobeat songs that talk about money. To us, they’ve seem to have attained the ultimate level of privilege.
But is that really what privilege looks like to the average Nigerian? In fact, who’s an average Nigerian? I’ll tell you this for free — it’s not you. Let’s have a closer lookand you’ll see what I mean. Let’s go back to the traffic jam on Third Mainland Bridge. It’s not only the traffic that’s stressing you. You’re also burnt out from your 9 – 5 where you earn ₦300k every month. It’s not a lot, but it helps you get by and you have no choice but to hack at it everyday anyway. If only you could earn a little more, or God just answers your prayers so you can japa.
You try to kill time by logging into Twitter, only to see tweets saying 400k is not a lot of money. You close the app immediately, you refuse to be pissed off by two different things today.
Back to that traffic jam on the Third Mainland Bridge—it’s more than just traffic; it’s a microcosm of the bigger differences in our society. In that jam, there’s the 16-year-old who can’t afford to go to school and has to sell drinks and face towels in traffic just to make ends meet. Chasing after moving cars all day, because that’s what stands between him and having his only meal of the day. He wants nice things too, and most likely has dreams of being like you someday.
They’re also worlds away from you, sitting in your car with the AC turned on. Probably farther from you than you are from the person you envy in the SUV. But you could hardly spare him a thought. This isn’t because you’re unkind, but it’s just where we live. We’re conditioned to look upwards because for most, life hasn’t been easy. And there’s the never-ending tug of the thought, “If I can just have a little more, maybe life would be easier”. But then you get more, and you realise there’s more to get.
It’s not a bad thing to look upwards all the time, but it’s okay to look around too. Look at real life. Notice the differences between the worlds in which you and the people around you exist. You might not have everything you want, but it’s okay to acknowledge your privilege sometimes.
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