Lagos never sleeps.
It was 6:42 a.m., and the city was already a living beast honking, sweating, swearing. The smell of fried akara[ Fried Beanscake], burnt fuel, and wet dust filled the air as buses screeched to a halt and hawkers dashed between traffic like warriors in a battlefield.
Newton Ranking stood at the edge of Oshodi bridge, clutching a worn backpack and watching the morning unfold. He was 24, fresh out of the University of Lagos with a degree in Sociology and exactly ₦2,450 in his bank account. His dreams of becoming the next great Afrobeat producer felt like a joke in this chaos.
His phone buzzed—battery low. A message from his mother:
Newton, don't forget to go to Pastor Ray office. He may help you get work in Alausa.( Local government office)
He sighed. Another church connection. Another dead-end.
He zipped his bag and stepped into the street. A yellow danfo screeched beside him.
"Lekki! Lekki one chance o!" the conductor yelled.
Newton hesitated, then climbed in.
Inside the bus, a woman in a faded pink wrapper argued with the conductor over ₦50. A child on her back wailed. Across from him, a sharply dressed young woman tapped away on an iPhone with a Lagos badge clipped to her blouse—civil servant, maybe. The smell of sweat and broken dreams clung to the seat.
As the bus jolted forward, a loud thump shook the roof—beggars tapping coins. The driver cursed them in Yoruba.
Newton looked out the window. The city was moving, fast and indifferent. And he had to find a way in.
---
That same morning, across the lagoon in Ikoyi, Sandra Okonkwo zipped up her wine-colored power suit and stepped into a waiting Prado. The city's struggle didn't touch her the same way. Her struggle wore designer shoes and fake smiles. At 31, she had climbed the ladder PR manager at one of Nigeria's top fintech startups but the higher she climbed, the lonelier it got.
She checked her inbox:
> URGENT: CEO wants a cleanup of the Titans Paystake situation before 3 p.m.
She rolled her eyes. Another cover-up. Another mess the media must never see.
As the car cruised onto the bridge, her eyes caught a danfo weaving through traffic below. A guy inside stared blankly out the window.
She didn't know it yet, but their lives would crash—soon.