“People of the City” was written by Cyprian Ekwensi in 1953. Despite studying Pharmacy, Ekwensi became a prolific author with several critically acclaimed books to his name. It’s said that his father was a storyteller, which may have inspired Ekwensi’s love for writing. After working in broadcasting, he eventually started his own business, showcasing his multifaceted talents.
Sango’s mother had high hopes for her son and warned him to be wary of city girls. She had a girl in a convent whom she was preparing for Sango. Girls flocked to Sango because he was very handsome. As much as he wanted to heed his mother’s advice, he lacked the moral fiber to resist.
“People of the City” is set in Lagos. The story revolves around a young man in his mid-twenties named Amusa Sango. It is not clear where Sango came from, but like many of the people of the city, he was neither born nor bred in Lagos. Instead, he came to Lagos from an area called Eastern Greens. The location of Eastern Greens is not specified, leaving us to guess. Although Amusa Sango sounds like a Yoruba name, Yoruba-speaking areas are located to the north of Lagos, rather than towards the east. Nigeria was divided into three regions at the time: North, West, and East, and Ekwensi hailed from the Eastern Region. Where Eastern Greens was located will remain a mystery.
Aina was one of the people of the city. Although Sango was trying to make a career in journalism, he had a side hustle leading a band that performed in the evenings. After his performance, he could always choose one of the girls, resulting in repentance the next morning. One of those picks was Aina, a shoplifter who also came into the city to escape poverty. The next morning, Sango was ready to move on, but Aina was looking for a relationship. There was something about Aina that worried Sango. He had a premonition that he would not be able to extricate himself from her.
Lajide also lived in the city. He was Sango’s landlord and referred to as the financier. He was involved in various shady deals and once attempted to double-cross some robbers who were trying to sell stolen goods to him. Lajide had eight wives and was always on the lookout for more. He disliked Sango because of his string of one-night stands.
When Lajide discovered that Aina was about to be stoned to death for shoplifting, he was eager to let Sango know that his warnings about girls with dubious characters were prescient. Sango rushed out, thinking about how to save Aina. He eventually found a corporal who called 999, and within minutes, the police arrived and rescued Aina. However, she was eventually jailed for three months.
Aina’s mother was unhappy that Sango did not fight more for her daughter. She almost got him into serious trouble when Bayo, a friend of Sango, wanted to make money on the side by colluding with a nurse to inject a woman with some illegal drugs for treatment. The woman in question happened to be Aina’s mother, and Bayo intended to use Sango’s flat for the operation. However, when Aina’s mother learned of the plan, she reported it to the police. Bayo and Sango managed to escape charges by quickly disposing of the evidence, but the nurse was not as fortunate. Additionally, Lajide became fed up with Sango and evicted him, leaving him homeless
Eventually, Aina was released from prison, and Sango found her irresistible. You can imagine what happened next.
Meanwhile, while Aina was in jail, Sango had found another love interest, Beatrice, who was the mistress of an English man named Grunnings. Grunnings was married with three children in England, but Beatrice loved Sango. However, now that he was homeless and storing his belongings in the Left Luggage office at a railway station, he was not interested in pursuing a relationship with her. Beatrice was bored and wanted to move, but she had no money. Sango directed her to Lajide, who was willing to provide accommodation in exchange for her becoming his ninth wife. Lajide faced competition from a Lebanese businessman who was willing to pay £5,000 for five years to rent one of Lajide’s properties. Ultimately, Beatrice chose the Lebanese businessman, Mohammed Zamil, but Lajide continued to pursue her.
Lajide purchased the hall where Sango and his band performed in the evenings and promptly evicted them. However, thanks to Beatrice, Sango was able to secure an Islamic school as an alternative venue
One of Sango’s band members discovered that he had no place to live, and invited him to share his tiny room, taking turns sleeping in the bed. Despite his living situation, Sango was doing well at his job.
Politics was in the air, as Lagos had just elected the first black mayor in West Africa. Everyone, including Sango, was swept up in the euphoria of the moment. On the day of the mayor’s inauguration, the crowd was massive, and a girl fainted. Sango was there to save her, and he fell in love with her instantly. However, she was already betrothed to a medical student in America who wanted her to join him as soon as possible. Her name was also Beatrice, and Sango dubbed her “Beatrice the Second.”
Meanwhile, Sango’s mother, who was unwell, had traveled to the city for treatment and was admitted to the hospital. With her was a girl that Sango’s mother wanted him to marry. She had just left a convent, but Sango found her too boring.
Suddenly, Aina showed up, claiming that she was pregnant with Sango’s child. He gave her five pounds and warned her not to return.
Bayo, one of the people from the city whom we encountered earlier, fell in love with Saud Zamil, sister to Mohammed. Beatrice the First was already bored with Mohammed and had moved on to hitch up with Kofi, a commercial driver who plied the Lagos to Abuja route. Beatrice the First eventually dropped dead, and Kofi, who had a family in Ghana, was devastated.
When Mohammed discovered the relationship between Bayo and Saud, he did not approve of it. The two lovers wanted to elope, but Mohammed discovered their plan. In the ensuing confusion, he shot both of them dead.
Sango, wanting to exact revenge, used his journalistic skills and the platform he had to expose what happened. At the time he did this, he was about to have the big break in his career that he had sought for so long. Unfortunately, his article stepped on too many toes, and he was dismissed from work.
Aina returned to the accommodation Sango shared with his friend called First Trumpet. On seeing her, Sango became livid. In the ensuing tussle, Aina had to be rushed to the hospital.
Sango was worried. If Aina died, it would be a custodial sentence. Luckily for him, Aina pulled through and Sango found out he wasn’t the father of her baby.
Somewhere along the line, Lajide, husband to eight wives, lost his first wife. The event devastated him, and he died suddenly shortly afterward, literally drinking himself to death.
Beatrice the second’s fiancé failed his medical exam abroad and tried to commit suicide. He died in a Lagos hospital, around the same period when Sango’s mother died at the same hospital.
Sango and Beatrice the second married at a low-key ceremony, with very few invited guests. Nevertheless, word got around, and Kofi, still mourning Beatrice the First, gatecrashed the party, offering the new couple to come and spend some time in Accra. The book ended with the new married couple looking forward to an exciting time in Ghana.
In the news this week was the sad story of the conviction of a Nigerian politician and his wife who appeared to have tricked a boy trapped in poverty in the city of Lagos to the UK to donate a kidney to their daughter. Very tragic story, no matter how you opt to look at it. The final part of the story played out as I was reading this book. Cities attract people who fled poverty from their towns and villages. In “People of the City”, Sango, Aina, Bayo, Lajide, Beatrice the first, the eight wives of Lajide, were all people who fled from somewhere to Lagos to escape poverty. Lajide made it financially, but the rest didn’t. It was a very exploitative environment. Sango messed around with several women who fled into the city from elsewhere. However, when it was time for him to settle down, he opted for Beatrice the second, a woman who was born and raised in a very settled family environment in the city.
People of the City also provided an insight into what Lagos was like in 1954, under the colonial masters. It was a place into which somebody like Sango’s mother could travel in from a village, be admitted for treatment and receive proper help. |T|his reminded me of a story that a Chines colleague told me about China: if you can find your way into a Chinese city, you will have high quality medical attention. Lagos of 1954 was a place where calling 999 elicited response in minutes. Train stations had proper functioning level crossing, with gates. Railway stations in those days had “Left Luggage Office”, a facility that Sango took advantage of to store his personal possessions when he became homeless. Like it is today, acommodation was in demand because of the constant influx of people.
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