Sights of Horrific Sicknesses And Diseases On Nigerian Roads

I saw a sight that traumatised me for most of this morning. A person of indeterminate gender (I was too appalled to look at his/her face) sat on a stool just in front of Ikeja Computer Village, and with the sound of Prospa Ochimana’s “Ekwueme” blaring, displayed a growth between his/her legs that took my breath away. Literally. I mean, I held my breath and quickly averted my eyes because this growth lacks proper definition.

I pass through Ikeja daily as it is on my route to my business place and I am confronted with the sight of various beggars waving gangster deformities at passers by like some sort of prized trophy, and for fear of being labeled ‘insensitive’, I cannot dare complain openly at the unsightliness. In many parts of Lagos, our eyes are assaulted by people displaying stomach turning diseases in traffic and on the roadside, and while I will blame the government for the general economic fuckery and for not providing adequate health care for the hoi polloi, I still feel that people should not be subjected to these troubling sights. There is a particular crippled Hausa boy whose limbs are facing…I cannot describe exactly where his limbs are facing. I think angle 480 or so. He lies down daily in front the Local Government office by the railway in sun and in the rain, dirty, dressed in rags and bawling at the top of his voice “brother, epp me!! Sister, madam, abegi, epp me!!!”, and boy can that young man scream. My heart sinks each time I pass by him because his high octave voice pierces something in my soul and his deformities cause my mind to quail in horror.

Amputated limbs, engorged tumours, terrifically swollen bellies, gigantic goitres, elephantiasis of the legs and scrotum, oozing sores and other allied diseases daily assault our eyes and it makes me wonder if the government is not aware that our streets are being overrun by sick people. I believe in a sane country this will not be allowed. The appropriate authorities will sweep them off the streets and haul them to hospitals for proper treatment. Do we even talk about the ones that have turned this to a money making venture. They hire speakers, play “Ekwueme” and wave money bags and graphic images of biological afflictions.

I don’t want to be subjected to sights like the one I saw this morning that made me gag, swallow a scream and spit. How long can we allow this on our roads? I dream of the day we can freely walk on the road without being harassed by disease ridden beggars. I dream of the day we will have an accountable government that will not allow it’s citizenry rot with sickness. I dream of the day…Nigeria will make sense.