You may be hungry..

But you better manage your anger.

You will wake up as a young adult Nigerian, drenched in sweat because the fan in the small apartment that you share with your siblings and your mother has stopped working two years ago, and you cannot bring yourself to approach the landlord, he’ll laugh in your face and ask for last month’s rent.

The air smells faintly of last night’s kerosene, and you wonder if there’s still water in the tank to have a bath. The water is always muddy, but you’ve grown to appreciate it, and you’ve learned to ignore the bumps that it causes on your skin.

You take out your phone to check the internet for job offers, as you usually do when you wake up. Before you can open Chrome, MTN lets you know that you have 49.5MB remaining. You sigh and open you dialer:

*312#

You cannot afford any of the data plans there, and the ones you can afford won’t last long, and you know better than to waste your last N500 on a plan that’ll disappear before you can hit “submit” on one application. Borrowing data isn’t an option either, you’ve maxed out your limit on all the three SIM cards you own.

You sigh again-deeper this time-and toss your phone aside. You open the cupboard in the small corner that serves as a kitchen and stare at the last pack of indomie sitting in the corner. You’re hungry, but if you eat the indomie, what will your sister eat when she gets back from school, tired and hungry? You’re tempted to ask Mommy Kudi, your neighbor for a small loan, but the last time you borrowed N700 from her, she came to bang on the shabby wooden frame that served as a door to the apartment. You never really liked her anyway, she smells like locust beans and you pinch her son’s head whenever you see him.

You soak garri and go back to your room, if you leave it for a while the garri will increase. You’re able to find water for a quick bath, and you prepare to face the day in your faded Adieu papa polo, faded jeans and “pam slippas.” Out on the streets, the sun is blazing, and the okada rider you flag down doubles the price before you even mention your destination. You argue for a while, but it is pointless. Everyone is trying to make ends meet. You keep your N500 and decide to trek to your destination. There's free Wi-Fi, and you should be able to apply for jobs.

You find an empty space near the plaza with free Wi-Fi, and you sit there. You don’t mind the dust, at least there’s free Wi-Fi. You deserve a little break, so you open Tiktok. The first video that pops up on your fyp is a girl complaining about the cost of living in Nigeria, how NYSC is of no benefit to the youth, how one crate of egg is now untouchable because of the price.

As a struggling Nigerian youth yourself, you should understand what she said in the video, and that everything she said is true. But you don’t have sense. You quickly open the comments section and start typing furiously.

“but why are you buying a whole crate of egg? Single lady like you.”

Oh, she said Lagos smells, who is she to say that? So you say it’s because of Igbo people that Lagos smells, and that when they go back to their towns in December, Lagos stops smelling. Notice how you’re a fool?

She even mentions how MTN is being very frustrating, but you have deleted the 49.5mb text that they sent you earlier, and you have deleted your ability to think as well, because once again, you start typing furiosly

“so you really set camera talk begin cry?”

You have a younger sister at home, and your mother raised you alone, but when she says “Tinubu you’re a terrible president” your head sparks once again and you pull up your keyboard again “you sef go do ashewo work like your mates na. You no be woman? You con dey call Tinubu name with no respect on the internet.”

Once again, can you see that you’re foolish?

Your leg hurts because of the heat, and your pam slippas barely has a sole, but you decide to open Twitter, see proper engagement. You delete some pictures on your phone so you can free up enough space to download the girl’s video, then you post it on Twitter and caption it “this one sha wan trend.” Then yo send it to all the 20 engagements group chat that you’re in. Banger boy, you’ve made it. You press further and say “you’re complaining about the economy and you’re buying spaghetti. When you no be Italian” You have to bend your phone three times before you can type it because the screen is broken, but that is not important, 500 people have now liked your post. You’ve made it se!

And so you continue fighting anyone who tries to fight for your rights, even when you go back home to your see your younger sister’s tattered textbooks. When you ask her how school was, she says “it is fine, thank you.” You and your mother cannot afford the fees of a school that will teach her how to properly use tenses. You may be hungry, but you better manage that hunger because if I ever hear you talk about how the economy is bad, I will find you and throw you iron shoe. You will think i’m joking, but I promise you that you won’t escape what is coming for you.

---