Mall Without Walls

Hi Guys,
There's this feeling i get whenever i go to a typical nigerian market, or i'm just passing by, i think it's fascination,fascination with the redness of the tomatoes, the hustle and struggle of the market sellers and buyers, if i was a photographer, my first shoot would probably be a market scene.
Recently, i saw a post written by a friend of mine, Kodichi Anibogu , a very interesting and active young lady, in which she captured my "fascination" with the market scene, and she has agreed to share  it with us today, yaaay.
I know some people do not go nor pass through the market, to those who do, relate and share please and to those who don't , let this be a peek into that window


I have always wanted to write a piece about the glories of shopping in Yaba and now I can.
I remember the days when the lagos government tried to bring that market down. Those traders by the railway were sent away and their stalls destroyed. But did they give up? NO!!!
As Nigerians are known for resilience and perseverance, the traders rose above the destruction ...and simply moved to the opposite railway (let's hope Lagos Government has no more plans).
There's quite a lot to be said about Yaba : it is divided into so many sections. There is a place for new shoes, another area for OK shoes. There's a blazer section as well (fashion forward).
The most interesting thing to most unilag girls is the night life, not in a social sense. Yaba at night may be likened to a magical fairytale land where all items of clothing drastically reduce in cost.
Its basically a case of Diploma expensive by day and UME affordable by night. (I'm UME so that's not a sly in any way)
An example would be buying a shirt from one of them at 3pm for an affordable enough price only for  his wears to be sold at 200 naira each by 6pm (a case of "had I know", my ex ISL mates should get that joke)
Yaba remains an awesome place where anything and everything is sold, from ankara to abacha (igbo kwenu :D).
 Most good things have a teeny tiny glitch; the TRADERS.(Use of capital letters is so well deserved for their annoying assault and battery tendencies!!) Yaba boys have a disease which compels them to touch/hold every girl that they come across(eww).
These guys will just grab you and be like "come see my shop" "you want jeans,top?" So frustrating.
Don't even get me started on the "dollar,gold" mallams. They'd come at you and be like "you wan sell gold?" (Like I can even recognise real gold). They even try to touch you and you will see girls avoiding those grasping appendages like the plague.
Let's go to the beauty segment now, am I the only one who sees those garishly made up women with the rouged cheeks and "clipped weavon" eyelashes???!!!! Then they have the audacity to ask if you if "you wan fix eyelashes?" hell no!!!!! I wish I could retort. Not when it looks like you bonded weavon to your eyelids.
Please never make the mistake of carrying your natural hair uncovered, all the women will be on your neck saying things like "fine girl you wan make your hair?". And once again I'm too respectful a person to scream back "Noooo!!! Can't a girl just take a break from the fixings, weavings, bondings,clippings and attachings ??!!" I also cant say that bcos its a mouthful.
 My happy place in yaba has to be the novel sellers, they have everything from romance to fantasy to horror (which I do not care for)
Of course if you are a fantasy lover its a painful pleasure because they never have the sequel to a series.
And that's my tall tale(not meaning a lie here but a lengthy expose ) on yaba, why we love it and why we hate it, the fashionable and downright disgusting aspects of that mall without walls. Ciao.

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as i did and don't hesitate to leave you thoughts and comments.

Have a blessed week,
      princess xx