In spite of their different stories and backgrounds, these characters are brought together by a common goal: survival.

For Chike and Yemi, Lagos is a place where they can hide from the army and hopefully leave behind the memories of the Niger Delta for Oma, Lagos is her only escape from an abusive husband for Isoken, Lagos is the place which might reconnect her with the parents she had lost, and for Fineboy, Lagos is an escape from a life of militancy in the Niger Delta which had trapped him and eventually threatened to end his life. “ Lagos a jungle, an orderly ecosystem with a ranked food chain, winners and losers decided before they were born.”Īlthough a good number of migrants see Lagos as a place to fulfill their dreams, Lagos means different things for each of the characters. People who have lived in Lagos for most of their lives are not shocked by its jungle-like nature rather, they adapt and fight to gain a higher ranking in the Lagos food chain which the author points to in this quote: This is great because the characters’ views of Lagos are raw and unfiltered, unlike the views of people who were born in Lagos. This book stands out for me because the readers get to see Lagos through the eyes of migrants. However, they find out that there’s more to the apartment than it seems and together with a former Minister of Education (Chief Sandayo) and a journalist (Ahmed Bakare), they find themselves thrown into a world of corruption and dirty politics which changes their lives forever. In their quest for survival, they find an abandoned apartment which launches them into a life of comfort. The story talks about the experiences of this group in Lagos - from homelessness to unemployment to divine strokes of luck to life threatening events – and tells a tale that most Lagosians (and a number of Nigerians) can relate with. At the heart of the city lies the desire to survive because in Lagos, survival is the principal thing.īeautifully encapsulating the essence of Lagos, “ Welcome to Lagos” lives up to its name as it weaves together the lives of three men, one woman and one girl - Chike, Yemi, Fineboy, Oma and Isoken - who come together to face the jungle that is Lagos. A city that hosts millions of people and dreams that serve as the veins of the city, which keep the streets of the city buzzing with life and chaos every single day.

I’m not just referring to the title, I’m welcoming you to the book the story itself is Lagos. WELCOME TO LAGOS by Chibundu Onuzo: A Review Welcome to Lagos.

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen