There was something magical about watching them emerge from the crowd. The riders always looked larger than life.
MY FIRST OJUDE OBA
The crowds were overwhelming, but they were also proof of the festival’s importance.
I DO NOT WANT TO BE A CLEANER FOREVER
For now, I don’t have any plan or any hope, apart from this government.
I HAVE A JOB, AND I CAN’T AFFORD IT
We are not on the payroll, not on any union list. It is like we are living a lie.
IT FEELS LIKE I’M BUILDING SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE
The cost of coming to work every day is the source of my biggest debt.
GIVING UP A DECADE FOR A DREAM
Sometimes the money comes late; sometimes it is the correct amount; sometimes it is less than expected.
ALL OF THIS FOR FIVE THOUSAND NAIRA?
Imagine I have a law degree, yet I’m earning what a street hawker might get in a few days.
ON PROBATION FOR FIVE YEARS WITHOUT PAY
We are called “temporary” with our names written in pencils, until the temporary becomes the life we know.
SITTING AT THE SAME DESK AFTER 13 YEARS
Hope! It is what is still keeping me in this work, not because I love the work I do.
WE HAVE NINE MOUTHS TO FEED EVERY DAY
Every naira is budgeted down to the last kobo. But I never complain too loudly. They never complain, either.