Guys, I can't help sharing this with you. Couldn't stop laughing...

Femi Sowoolu wrote:

Radio Roulette

After a whole year's sabbatical from listening to Nigerian radio, I decided recently to pay a salutary visit. It was one of those Lagos traffic days when you find yourself at the mercy of whatever obstruction has caused a hopeless bottleneck ahead of you. So, as I sojourned, at snail speed through Kingsway, Ikoyi, Osbourne, 3rd Mainland and onwards towards my destination point at Ikeja, I was willing to appreciate whatever came off the airwaves. It was a few minutes after 8 in the morning. The breakfast shows were on.

Recently, you see, I have been addicted to online radio stations and have a list on virtual lockdown that stretches from WBLS and Hot 97, to Heart Essex and Radio 5 - Sport radio, London. From New York City to Kingston, Jamaica, and on to 1.FM in Switzerland. From Rick Dees to Sue and Phillip on the Heart Breakfast Show, West Midlands in England. From Top 40 to Classic Rock. Nothing compared to the stations on my daily playlist! But I was willing to be kind and accommodating that morning - after all, look what lay ahead!

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Makoko: Lagos community where floating shops sustain residents

.Makoko traders plying their trade

Toyin Oluwatobi wakes up in the morning at 6am and cooks a variety of food enough to feed 50 people. Then, she prepares her paddle and canoe for the day’s work; the only means of transport for her goods, which also serves as her shop.

One thing is sure though, by 3pm when she retires to her wooden house, the food would be completely sold, Oluwatobi told PUNCH Metro.

Life in Makoko, a Lagos riverine community in Yaba Local Government Area of the state is nothing like one would find within the metropolis.

Majority of the residents of this fishing community, depend on food vendors like Oluwatobi to eat daily.

When our correspondent visited the fishing community, it was noticed that the community live entirely on the goods sold by women and girls who paddle around the community in their canoes, laden with various goods.

By morning, most of Makoko’s men would be off to their fishing spots or sawmills. The boys would either be away to a school constructed with wood in the area, or at the loading dock, waiting for passengers to ferry around the community. 

Makoko traders do not have the luxury of shops, which those who trade on land have. So, they load their items on their canoes and paddle around the community until they or the goods are exhausted.

Sweating as they rigorously steer around the corners of the community, these women provide the main economic sustenance, which the residents of Makoko depend on.