Bariga Market

It is noisy, busy, mazy. It is a marketplace. It is Bariga marketplace. A landmark of sorts in Lagos state, Nigeria. A lot of things are sold here ranging from clothing articles to foodstuff. They sell from 10 naira up to 3, 000 naira or even more. The road is dangerously close to the stalls housing the goods. The air here is thick with smells of fish, vegetables, fruits, second-hand clothing and gasoline. You can hear excited shouts of "Customer, Customer" from the sellers in frenzied hope of doing business. Here, the fishes talk. Their wide, dead eyes looking up at you in some kind of eerie expectation... as if asking you to take them home, away from this place. Meats hang from hooks, meat from all kinds of animals, cows, goats, pigs, chicken. They lie on boards too, waiting to be cut up. Tall, dark Hausa men from the north bring them. They exchange them for money. Bloodied money, stained with the blood of skinned animals. It is a fair trade.

The cars pass by, honking repeatedly. Some cars stop, their occupants purchasing something from the comfort of their cars. Pedestrians walk by fast... Acutely aware of the time. Sometimes a stall collapses and shouts of apology and sympathy go up. It is set up again and the wait for a 'customer' resumes.

If you venture into this maze of people and foodstuff, getting lost is a possibility. Sellers greet you enthusiastically, hoping you buy from them, sometimes pleading with their eyes. There are rows of goods left and right. Sellers sense hesitation and capitalise in this... Goading you into buying something. Some of them comment on your dressing, softening you up and drawing your attention towards them.

Buying something here is in itself an art. Haggling over prices is something that happens. I have heard of a 500 naira foodstuff bought for a 100 naira after haggling. That in itself, is no mean feat. The sellers have a price in mind that they are determined to sell for. Dropping that price for yourself is an art.

It is a marketplace, but beautiful and wonderful in its own way.

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