The Yaba market you knew
We now have Phase I and Phase II.
Rain fell heavily today. I should have spent my day indoors. I needed new sneakers on a film production set, and this was the only day I could afford to go to the market. Aside from my fear of purchasing the wrong shoe size or colour, I have long-standing unresolved trust issues when buying anything online. Of course, I do not draw the line with buying food online.
So I headed out early because the “early bird, early worm” wisdom also applies to finding good stuff at the market. Like most people, I don’t visit the market frequently enough to have reliable sellers on speed dial who can keep cool stuff for me regardless of when I come by. As a one-woman band, I set forth at dawn.
40 minutes later, I was at the market. But not before I was asked whether my stop was Yaba Phase I or Yaba Phase II. And, if you know Lagos well, you’d have noticed that patience is in short supply. I had to swiftly determine if what I recalled as phase I matched what the driver attempted to convey. Hurriedly, I took a chance on the driver and prayed that it was the right decision as I hopped into the commercial tricycle known as Keke Napep.
In December 2018, a group of women organised a market march in Yaba to demand that women walk through the market without harassment. They bravely advocated and stood up for their rights and the rights of women to reclaim their bodily autonomy. You can imagine the joy I felt when a clothe vendor walked towards me with all his wares in one hand and welcomed me to the market with “I no dey touch you, follow me buy jeans nau” as I entered the market.
Because I was there on a sneakers trip, rerouting to a jeans mission would cost me time and money. So I had to make it clear that today was not the day I would be his customer. He took it in good spirit and left— again, my immense appreciation to the founders —Jekein Lato-Unah and Damilola Marcus and the ladies who led the market march, to think that could’ve escalated into an outburst of swear words a few years ago.
So I continued on my quest, and not long after, a random man who makes a living by connecting potential buyers with vendors approached me. Similar to AliExpress or Amazon, a walking marketplace in this case. He asked what I wanted to buy and I responded. He then made it his new mission to guide me until we found a shop with stuff I liked and settled with that.
The vendor we stumbled on was energetic and persuasive, as you would expect them to be at any time of day, but especially in the morning. He asked for my sneaker size and showed me different colours to try out to know if they fit. Eventually, I found the one I loved and maybe out of worry that I might change my mind at the last minute, the seller launched into a sweet talk marathon about how the shoe was particularly designed for me and my legs were the most beautiful he had ever seen. I’m not sure whether that worked because I’d already decided to buy it, but it was flattering to hear all of that.
It was time to pay. The mid-February 2023 Naira crisis as a step towards a cashless society saw adoption as well as reluctance. The seller falls into the latter category which meant that he had to beckon to a POS agent — a new business model that involves getting paid commission on online transfer payments in exchange for cash to receive his payment. I prepared to take my leave as that signified the end of our transaction. But this seller goes on a rant talking about how I should break up with whoever I’m with so he could take care of me instead. Just a few minutes earlier, he had the ideal window to prove it, so I chuckled and thought how convenient. I indulged him by giving him my phone number in the hope that I would not regret this seemingly innocuous gesture. As I write this, I have come to regret that gesture.
Some things don’t change. The dollar/gold dealers of Yaba are still an important part of the market. As is custom, a dealer approached me to inquire if I had dollars to exchange for the naira or gold accessories to sell to get the cash immediately, and it left me leaving the market and feeling good about myself because I decided that in itself is a sign that I might be doing something right after all.
