Here in Lagos

Here in Lagos, a city forever out of control, Femi and I have managed to organise our lives through this past year so they’re as close as possible to exactly how we want them. Not easy in such a shambolic place, the antithesis of the Oz I left a couple of years ago to explore the world. But, after our initial struggle, work and life here have somewhat settled down. Or that’s what we thought. Until I got this bloody email!

“Femi, take a look at this!”

We were in the Bristol Hotel, Friday lunchtime, drinking cold Star beers, waiting for Modupe (mo-doo-pay) to join us before ordering our lunch.

Femi, as you might guess from his name, is a local, born in Benin City, from where those magnificent British Museum bronzes were, let’s politely say, souvenired back in 1897. He earned his engineering degree in London. His dad, his elder brothers and two uncles in Nigeria all put in to meet his fees and expenses, so when we arrived together in Lagos twelve months or so ago, he…