Christmas at the slum of Makoko, Lagos is a Taiwo Adebayo initiative – a documentary photographer who tells amazing eye-opening stories of people’s existence that’s barely paid mind to.

(_taiwo_adebayo on IG)

Christmas and other festives have been sweet & sour for me in the past years because of my deceased siblings. Missing out on the account of what real family feels like either by spending it by myself, trying to have fun and low sucking.

— Sa’eedah Imam (@saeedah30th) December 24, 2021

For the past 7 years, I have always owed it to Christmas and other festive periods a melancholic moment of wishing my dead siblings were alive. It comes close to giving me a sense of the whole celebration not worth it after some chills I work twice harder to shake off.

Up until my invitation to Christmas at the slum of Makoko, I did not have any plans nor hopes to do things differently, though I had events lined up for me from boxing day, I had nothing doing on Jesus’ birthday.

READ ALSO: YULETIDE LIGHTS, ADORABLE FACES, AND MORE: ALL I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS 2021 

I remember Taiwo stating categorically how therapeutic ‘Christmas at the Slum’ would be for me if I made it there, and you know the I-almost-did-not-make-it story that could precede this course. Taiwo Adebayo is definitely one of the uncommon agents of change in his niche.

In his words:

Change is continuous, so I never feel the need to stop

Change is progressive

Makoko is not a tourist centre, it is not a tourist attraction

It is our duty to effect change, we can’t wait around for nobody to come around and do it for us

Change might seem difficult to achieve but in the end, we must work towards achieving it one step at a time.

-CATS2021

So I embarked,

Prior to going for Christmas at the Slum, I had only seen the Slum of Makoko in videos and I was prepared to have quite an experience by going there. It wasn’t going to be any of those fancy rides but a jalopy cruise from Obalande to where was pointed to me as Makoko bus stop.

READ ALSO: A DAY IN OSUN, OSOGBO

From the moment I hopped on the bike till I got to my destination and finally returned home to scrub the whole Makoko skin layer off my body, it was indeed a therapeutic experience as promised. I strongly bore in mind that I wasn’t going on a tourist or photo-blogging voyage like I did at Epe Fish Market. I wanted to feel as much I was capable of, I wanted to see a world entirely different from mine, I wanted to learn, I wanted to be there.

Navigating through the community was itch-free courtesy the two kids who walked me to the boat terminal as expected. Nothing in the videos I have seen matched with how it felt sailing on the black waters of Makoko as I hoped to move across the signature stench of the domicile.

READ ALSO: ROCK AND ROLL AT EPE FISH MARKET

The locals’ glances could tell what my mission there was. It must have facilitated how easily I got to my location because they were all aware “they were sharing things there.”

What I saw was a clear manifestation of sharing, making people happy and not waiting for anyone to do it, because if otherwise, none of the happening young guys and ladies (Taiwo’s friends) there would leave the comfort of their homes to stuff up in the ghetto of Makoko with their drones, gadgets, gifts, groceries, and brand merchandise.

One amusing thing was that everybody still went with their swag dripping rather minimally from Lekki, and other sophisticated areas of Lagos to show them how to party in the slum of Makoko.  meeeaaan, look at me.

In spite of the different dialect they speak at the slum, communication wasn’t a problem because the goal was to play a part. My boat ride back to base told me of how good hygiene could have been the primary solution to the scene out there as well as in other settlements, then it finally dawned on me how poverty of the mind is also a very strong factor in this situation.

IT’S BEEN A VERY LONG TIME I WROTE ABOUT DESTINATIONS, YOU CAN CHECK A FEW I HAVE WRITTEN HERE