Ayotola

“We can barely afford bread! The price of flour, today!”  

“Another blackout? Why does nothing work?”

“How is it that this country has so many natural resources, so many creative people, so many smart kids, so much to give the world and we’re just running and running and running ...to stand still? Why is it that all our natural and intellectual capital is just rotting in the streets like ten-day-old fruit?”

“I want to go to school! Please! Please! Don’t make me leave. You promised!”

‍

“What do you need more education for? You know how the world works. We don’t live in The Bubble, we live on The Racket. No one will give you anything...we can’t afford it. It's better you get married now.”

Ayotola’s parents always talk about moving to Europe.  

‍

‍

“Any news from Yuusuf?”  

‍

‍

“The radio says they are still picking up people in the Mediterranean. Let us pray he is one.”

‍

‍

“Can he swim?”

“The Pig Flood took everything. We had to start again. I don’t know why it was called the Pig.”

Lagos is sinking and the seas are rising. The highest lands in The Racket are highways. On the verges are mile after mile after mile of tents and shanties. Ayotola can only afford to send her boy to school.

“I can’t breathe in this city. Why is this life so hard? You have to fight for everything.”

“‘Happiness is enough wealth’. But I didn’t even get that. I love my children. All I ever wanted was just a little economic security. It was always out of reach. Always.”

“I can’t believe it! I got an A in maths. I’m going to tell Bidi.”

“Don’t forget your inhaler.”

Ayotola’s parents have better jobs and economic security for the first time through a universal basic dividend. Lagos is still growing, and floods still plague the city, but population is stabilising, pollution is falling and, amazingly, inequality is falling. The Racket is shrinking too.

Ayotola graduates from university. Her accountancy degree taught her about profit and loss, natural capital and human capital, growth and wellbeing.

With a career comes economic security and Ayotola chooses to have one child.

Lagos has no air pollution. The city is buzzing. It runs on clean energy and a never-ending wellspring of creative and intellectual capital from its young population. The Racket is a memory. The sea walls protected most from the Pig.

“They say I should retire and enjoy my grandchildren...and tell them stories of The Racket. They can’t believe it existed.”

‍

“I am too young to retire! I want to contribute to society. That is happiness.”