Looking back, that younger version of me felt a mix of confusion and fear.
MEDICATION WAS EXPENSIVE, HARD TO FIND
To my surprise, pigment slowly started returning. Week by week, the patch became smaller until it completely repigmented.
EVENTUALLY THERE’S NOTHING LEFT
Refusal can lead to you being threatened with being stopped from operating or having your vehicle impounded.
IF I KNOW WHAT I OWE, I’LL PLAN FOR IT
We are not economists. We are small traders trying to survive.
WHAT WE NEED IS CLARITY
When sales are poor, those payments become even more painful.
THE TRUTH ABOUT NIGERIA’S IDPS
I’ve been here for 15 years plus. And the problem has made other IDPs arrive as recently as two, three weeks ago.
SOMETIMES THEY THREATEN TO LOCK ME UP
But I’m happy about the new tax reform. It’s going to really help a lot of people who are in the low-income bracket.
EXCESS TAX IS A BURDEN ON US
I don’t have a problem with paying, but this is becoming unbearable. Four different people come for four different things.
I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO ADJUST PRICES
These requests are usually verbal. Nobody gives you a written document for such payments. They just tell you, “Oga, settle us.”
YOU JUST PAY AND MOVE ON
Some identify themselves as local government officials, some as sanitation task force officers, while others simply say they are “in charge of the street.”