Ajegunle, Nigeria - the Jungle City

I've been so many places, seen so many faces in this life. Experience differs and sometimes feeling alike. You like me might be a traveler like me, and also seen so many things but the question I will like to ask you is that, have you ever been to ajegunle.

This is a small city in Lagos, a western state in Nigeria. To this small but famous city has many names been attached to. It called a j city, a j, suji area and many others but I myself would call it jungle city.

One funny thing about this place is that, it has been known to produce so many world-renowned personalities in the area of sports, namely Emmanuel Amuneke, Rashidi Yekini, Taribo West, and so many others. This you would confirm if you have been familiar with Nigerian football.

Walk to any Nigerian any where in the world and ask him or her if they have any thing to say about ajegunle and I bet you that writing down what they are saying would not give you anything less than 400 words. This place I am telling you of has the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly part of it. Though every part f this world has got this parts but ajegunle has got some renowned stories attached to it self.

First, I would not talk about ajegunle without talking of Lagos itself. The state that houses the strange city. If you are going by road and about to enter Lagos; as you get to the border in other to enter the first sign you would see among many other signs is " this is Lagos shine, shine you eyes." Of course you have to shine them very well because it houses lots of personalities and in a situation where you are not the smart type the you will have your self to blame because you will even see a kid exploiting you before your own eyes and won't be able to do anything. Don't ask me how because it is better experienced than being told.

Now back to ajegunle the jungle city. One of the experiences I had while in ajegunle was that I boarded a bus going to mile 2 (these names would be conversant to Nigerians), and my destination was called mechanic bus stop according to the direction I was given. Now please take note, if you have a location to stop at in ajegunle or anywhere in Lagos, feel very free to shout "owa". This word indicates, "This is my bus-stop". You have to repeat it at least thrice so that the bus doesn't take you more than you want to go. Now back to my story. I got to the bus stop but said nothing, and the bus passed it going to another stop. I managed to ask a fellow commuter,"please where is mechanic bus-stop" only to be told I just passed it and the driver was asked to slow down for me to come down. I for one thought that he would stop but he didn't, instead as a routine in that down I was supposed to jump down will the bus was still moving. I just have to oblige by the jungle rule and of course I landed on the floor. Why, because as I jumped down I was supposed to run a little bit in the direction of the bus so that the force doesn't bring me down. This I did the next time I was coming down from a bus and I landed safely.

When I first got to this town, my early experience felt really bad, but as time went by I got used to the unconstitutional but mind written rules. Having them in mind and working with them I found this city not as hard as I first thought but a bit more interesting.

Many people have one or two things to say about ajegunle, some might be good the other might be bad but one thing I would tell you that if you haven't been to this place before then you should but do not forget to get a guardian or you would be learning some things by experiencing it and it might not give you a nice feeling. I for one would be writing a book about this place because I have a thousand and one things and stories to tell.