This wasn’t supposed to be my preferred article for this week. I had looked forward to writing about Ben Shelton, the likeable Black American tennis player who had a tournament breakthrough and would have matched a fifty year -old history if he had beaten Zverev, his opponent at the Finals of the US Open. Two days earlier, he had squared against Tiafoe, another Black American, in what was probably historic in itself since I can’t recall two black men facing each other in the Semis at the US Open.
Tennis, like golf, is deemed elitist and therefore, discriminatory and restrictive. These two sports have always had – in finance, access and attitude – visible and invisible barriers erected against people of color. Recent tennis survivors like Shelton, Tiafoe, Cauff, Keys, Stevens have their individual stories of rejection and discrimination to tell in a sport that is predominantly white. But they must have learnt how ‘to seize whatever opportunity they get and to get on with it’ from predecessors like Ashe, Blake and the Williams sisters to mention a few. It confirms the truism that doors keep opening all over the world – in sports, business and life – for the gritty and determined in spite of prejudices and obstacles.
But there is no sense in ‘travelling to Afghanistan’ as we used to say of foreign commentaries in the 70s when there is an existential threat at home. I mean home literally in this case. I woke up on Tuesday morning, the day I try to do the first draft of the week’s article feeling listless and very unrested. I hadn’t slept well to put it mildly. You see, fate, and maybe personal idiosyncrasies have always drawn me close to water largely because I love the serenity and freshness that are found in beaches that have not suffered indiscriminate abuses. They are getting rarer and rarer these days unfortunately. Especially in Lagos where both Government and the governed seem to compete against each other to abuse the bodies of water the State has been blessed with.
I lived almost thirty years in Festac Town at a time when it was supposed to be a model town for future estates and communities. It was for a while until the regulatory body took its eyes off the ball. My place of refuge was the body of water off First Avenue where I visited almost every Saturday morning to watch boats and other activities on the water. And to indulge in the peace the location offered. I had cause recently to visit Festac Town after a long hiatus caused in part by the chaotic Apapa- Oshodi Expressway and was extremely saddened by the noise and pollution in this once beautiful and peaceful Model Town. Of course, my place of refuge was gone. Nature had been supplanted by structure. Vanguard, where I worked in the eighties had a waterfront. I thought myself lucky that I had such a workplace. Many sunsets found me walking along the waterfront as I tried to clear my head after a stressful day’s work.
Today, car dealers and mechanics have taken over what used to be serene and natural. My next stop was 1004 Estate where I lived for over a decade. Living in a high-rise apartment for the first time, I had a panoramic view of my surroundings. To my back was the ocean with big ships and twinkling lights in the night and to my front, the lagoon with canoes competing with speedboats that streaked past ever so often. Morning breeze came from the lagoon. Evening breeze came from the ocean. I considered myself lucky to be ‘strapped’ in between. Today, the scenic and idyllic view is disappearing fast. Again, nature is being supplanted by structure. There are now at least two monstrous structures blocking the ‘view’ of 1004 residents. They should not be too surprised when more are erected or sand is deployed by the authorities to create a bigger real estate for the big players. Other countries create lakes and artificial bodies of water where there is none. We consume ours with sand and mortar even where there is.
This is what is happening at Oniru where shiploads of sand are poured into the beaches and ocean front literally 24/7 as the elitist and coveted Lagos Atlantic gets extended and distended. The result is that the ocean which used to be so close has become a distant phenomenon. The fishing boats have disappeared. The occasional water games have disappeared. Beach picnics have disappeared. Walks along the beaches have disappeared. They have been replaced by caterpillars and trucks shifting and leveling sand. And when the high-rise buildings eventually surface as they will, residents of Oniru should forget that they were ever at the waterfront. And the ever constant ocean breeze which used to be so refreshing, would become a nostalgic tale to be told to children yet unborn. Nature for them would have been completely supplanted by structure with all its ugliness.
What would be left for residents of Oniru, are noises and pollutions that are increasing by the day. As the coastal road progresses, so do noises and pollutions. It is getting increasingly common for truck drivers to permanently place their hands on the horn as they speed past at 2am!! It is like a strident alarm in your head that refuses to go away. It disturbs sleep. It disturbs wellbeing. It makes you listless and irritable in the mornings. It might be too much to ask, but concerned authorities should consider banning – and enforcing – needless blaring of horns at unholy hours in residential areas. And while we are at it, lounges, event centers and open air concerts should also be regulated. Their speakers don’t have to keep the rest of us awake before they can enjoy themselves. There should also be a decent time to ‘turn off the mike’ and close for the day if you are operating in a residential area. And Oniru, to the best of my knowledge, is designated a residential area.
My daughter, who recently came in from the UK for about a month, was so disturbed one night by the noise of a concert/party that she fished out the contact of those responsible for noise pollution in Lagos State. She recorded the noise and sent it across. I am not surprised that no one has responded. I am also not surprised that my daughter has vowed not to give up although she is back to her saner base. The only way she argued to get a decent society is to get authorities to do their jobs responsibly. The mail she reached is: http://lasepa.gov.ng/noise-emission-control-department/. Someone should please act and earn their pay if the address is not a phantom one. We are moving towards December, including ‘Detty December’, when the decibels would rise. Someone should please act to protect the mental health of those who live around this area. Is this too much to ask? And is the State only about revenue?
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