Before the arrival of the year 2014, so much hopes and aspirations were placed on the coming year by government. Then the year 2014 seems so far away. There were promises of health for all by the year 2014, education for all by the year 2014, good roads, power, name it, everything was to fall in place, including Housing for all by the year 2014. The year 2014 then held some magic, it was viewed as a time when all our basic amenities will be provided. It was the magical year. Sadly this magical year has come and gone and Nigeria is still grappling with the challenges of providing these basic amenities. Now we have the vision 2020 in place, same old story. 2020 is going to herald in the much anticipated health for all, housing for all, power, good roads etc. We are waiting. The challenges of providing descent and affordable housing for its citizens still remain a major challenge for the government. Nigeria may be the only place in the world where the mortgage system hardly works. Mortgage here works best for the rich who have access to it. The average Nigerian on the street cannot dream of taking out a mortgage. As a result of this we have a situation where an individual will scrimp and save to buy a plot of land and then practically starve himself and his family to death because he wants to build a house. Eight out of every 10 people you meet on the streets of Lagos have at one time or the other lived in a face-me-I- face-you apartment. The face-me-I-face-you is a local term used for a building with several rooms where tenants share facilities like toilet, bathroom and kitchen. The Iconic face-me-I-face-you has come a long way in Nigeria. The face-me-I-face-you was very popular in the 70s and still is though these days we have more of self contain apartments and mini flats. This is a welcome development which is as a result of people's desire to have some privacy and not having to wait in line to use the toilet or bathroom. My early years in Lagos were spent living in a face-me-I-face-you apartment. Yes! I am not ashamed to admit that I have at one point lived in a one room apartment. My parents came to Lagos after the Nigerian civil war and promptly settled in Ajegungle. From the stories I was told, Ajegungle was a virgin land then, spacious and not as congested as it is now. My parents promptly settled in a one room apartment on Sufianu Street. Mum hated the place because she had to share toilet, bathroom and kitchen with strangers. She was not used to this kind of lifestyle, but this was what her husband could provide as at then. Mum was called oyinbo” by the other tenants because she insisted on proper hygiene in the toilet and bathroom. Cooking in the kitchen was a nightmare for mum there were stories of mum practically standing guard over her pot in the kitchen. We did not stay long on Sufianu Street, thanks to a neighbor who came home drunk one night and banged on our door thinking it was his. Mum and Dad thought it was a burglar and a couple of days after that incident we moved to Akogun Street not far from Sufianu Street. Number 4 Akogun Street was a new building and Mum prevailed on Dad to take all the rooms on one section of the house, this ensured that we had the toilet, bathroom and kitchen space for that section to ourselves. Finally we could use the toilet and bathroom without having to wait in line and Mum could spread out in the kitchen, without having to stand guard over her pot of stew. Our new place was a three storey building with eight rooms on each floor thus we had a total of thirty-two rooms in the house. The compound was always a beehive of activities. Mum ensured that we always stayed indoors, but when she was out we sneaked downstairs to play with the other children and made sure we quickly ran back upstairs whenever we heard the your mama dey come” shouts from the other kids. Dad did not stay with us for long when we moved to Akogun Street, he got a job with an Oil Company and was promptly sent off to Port Harcourt. This was a major break for my parents and Mum was exited. Life for us after Dad relocated to Port Harcourt to start his new job quickly fell into a pattern. Mum had very strict rules, we were not to play outside, we did not go into other people's rooms to watch TV, and neither did we eat food cooked by other tenants. There was a day a neighbor had a party for her child, all the women in the compound pitched in to help with the cooking, Mum surprised us by joining the ladies she even made chin-chin as her own donation towards the party. Everyone was happy, there was so much food and drinks, when we were served jollof rice, my brothers immediately started eating, I had held back a little longer seeking out mum's face in the crowd to get her nod of approval which was a sign those days for us to eat whenever we were at a party. Mum was busy and did not look our way for a while, by the time she turned her gaze to where we were seated my brothers were half way into the plate of food. I still had my plate in my hands. I will never forget the look on Mum's face, and immediately my brothers knew they were in deep trouble. I finally got the clearance” to eat from her and started eating. When we got back to our room after the party, Mum called my brothers into her room so you want to tell the whole compound that you are starving”? You could not wait to start eating”? Their punishment was six strokes of cane and a promise to never eat anything outside without first showing it to Mum. I had the opportunity of visiting Ajegunle sometime back. So much has changed. I could not even make out my childhood neighborhood. As at the time of my visit, there was so much decay everywhere I looked. Refuse heaps, blocked drainage, burst sewage that emptied its contents onto the street, buildings that were in need of renovation, the list was endless. This was not the Ajegunle I knew. We stayed on Akogun Street for about four years before we moved to our house in Festac Town. Moving to Festac was a dream come true for my parents. We had a detached duplex, our own grounds and I finally had a room to myself complete with a balcony.
**kenny g**