Tafa Osisiye: Lagos is all about ‘chances’ (30 Days of Lagos)

by Tafa Osisiye

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Our red machine –unrivalled in its ugliness- might have originated from our betting colonialist but it has a uniquely Nigerian name: Baba Ijebu.

Lagos is about chances. Or, the superficial spy of same.

However one looks at it, Lagos creates chances and chances is Lagos –is this too tedious a tautology?

Chance means different things to different Lagosians. It means ‘One Chance’ to the commuter waiting at the bus stop. It means s/he should not chance a seat on that bus with a red-eyed conductor and few people. If s/he does, s/he might exit the ‘One Chance’ bus without any valuables. Sometimes a ‘One Chance’ bus gifts one a chanced stay in a hospital.

To some, chance is joining any of the haphazard tax-guzzling organizations soiling the image of Lagos: KIA, Lastma, NURTW and, NPF.

To other people, chance means a red machine –not the famous red telephone box of the Brits. Telephones are not given to chance except one is a Yahoo Yahoo rooted in the Industrial Age!

Our red machine –unrivalled in its ugliness- might have originated from our betting colonialist but it has a uniquely Nigerian name: Baba Ijebu.

Baba Ijebu is bits and parts of the Mega Millions and Powerball from the US, Lotto and Thunderball from the UK and Euromillions of Continental Europe.

Shorn of its more established predecessors finesse, Baba Ijebu means any kiosk with our ugly red machines, a patchwork of different hued papers with so many numbers as background.

Baba Ijebu is found in almost every street corner.

Some people come to play ‘event’, others ‘match’, some ‘sure’ and some others, ‘too sure’. I asked someone that came to play how it works. He said it’s just like Visa Lottery: you choose a series of numbers, if two of the numbers ‘strike’ that day, you win some money. You can bet for as low as ten naira (SURE) to as high as five hundred naira (TOO SURE).

I asked how he chooses his numbers, he said it depends. He had chosen thirty six and forty two for that day.

I said ‘Okay, so how did you choose these numbers?

He said he simply wrote down the numbers he saw on a vehicle plate number that morning.

***

You know how those people that know Maths always cover their exam sheets back then? I saw someone doing that there. He ringed his paper and whispered his numbers.

I went to meet him and asked for mentorship with my ‘Baba Ijebu’ career. He said he is building a house in Ikorodu with his winnings.

He gave me some sure numbers.

I played.

Results come out six times a day and three times on Sunday.

I waited. Life here can sometimes be far and in between. This is one of the surest ways of becoming a millionaire.

3:15 p.m. came. I ran to the store with my ticket. Mentor had assured me that ‘his numbers’ will drop.

Baba Ijebu published numbers very far from mine.

There goes my chance of being an overnight millionaire.

But that’s Lagos for you, a city of chance. You win some and lose a lot, but you know that someday, you will surely have a cause to smile.

Next week, I will chance my hard-earned money on the football bets that is the rage!

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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