No Longer at Ease

Lagos symbolizes the postcolonial condition in Nigeria. A former capital of Nigeria, it represents the postcolonial city, a Western urban center away from traditional Nigerian communities like the Igbo. While it demonstrates the distinction between Western and African lifestyles, it also illustrates how Nigerians navigate life after colonialism. As a kid, Obi heard dreamy stories of Lagos, a place of “progress” that contrasted with the difficult rural life: “There is no darkness there […] because at night the electric shines like the sun, and people are always walking about […]. If you don’t want to walk you only have to wave your hand and a pleasure car stops for you” (7).

However, it is evident that Europeans have authority in the new modern city. People tell Obi: “If you see a white man, take off your hat for him. The only thing he cannot do is mould a human being” (7). Upon his return from England, Obi sees the reality of Lagos and its slums for the first time. Despite being a developing Westernized and industrial city, it features increasing poverty and marginalization, mostly in Black neighborhoods. Development and inequality co-exist. Obi soon observes that “Lagos slum areas […] [stand] side by side with the cars, electric lights and brightly dressed girls” (8).