A bottle of Big Stout is ₦ 5,000 in Slick Bar, Victoria Garden City. That’s how much I paid for that dark, bitter and refreshing brew. It was housed in a normal fridge, dressed in the same brown bottle and belched when its cap was uncapped. The waiter walked like a butterfly, spoke through her ears and nose, before pouring gold into my glass.
Of course, there needed to be a supporting partner. It was asun. It cost ₦ 2, 000. The peppered pieces of meat did their job and collaborated well with the cold Stout.
These two items of jollofication or what Obahiagbon calls “big stouting and peppersouping” cost ₦ 7,000. Meanwhile, somewhere in Surulere, one can shut down a bar with this sum and even order deep bowls of pepper soup and still have change. But, this is Victoria Garden City where everything is expensive.
To own a house in this part of town, you must part with a naira heavy with zeroes behind it. Accounts feel it when houses are purchased: the buyer notices a dent and the seller smiles at the bountiful burst of account balance. However, with this purchase comes expensive existence: (a) to represent, the interiors must be adorned with gold (b) every equipment must. imported (c) the car driven must drive attention. My friend met all standards and he’s proud of his home and environs, at least, during dry seasons.
But, every resident in the garden know that their houses were built on water and when it rains, flood visits them. They know this and yearly, they prepare for his coming by prayers and buying more tall cars. They’ve not sat down to reason on how they can reconstruct the drainage systems. My friend reminded me that it’s good to be in a flood in a garden than in a gutter. I don’t know if I agree with that. What I do know is this: when you’re paying optimum price for your house, please, treat it with utmost care.
My friend asked “where is the Lagos state government?” I can’t understand why he’s asking about the government when everyone in his garden. shower with milk, drink champagne only and eat roasted king prawn tigers for breakfast. Why would kings wait for the government to re-arrange their paved roads or unblock their blocked drainages? Kings can raise funds and get the best engineers to do some reconstruction.
I’d never know why anyone would complain about flooding in a garden where every normal thing is abnormal. I just told you about a big Stout for ₦ 5,000, is that normal? They say it’s the area. Is it normal, therefore, for the floods to be a consistent thing and with no plans to fix it?