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English: HERE IS THE STORY. ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

So after a photo shoot, I did for a brand in Ikeja, I decided I wanted to head back to Balogun market since it’s less busy on Sundays. I had my camera with me. I see this man. With this sad/worried/I’m just tired look on his face. I decided I need a bath sponge and summon him over to me. He speaks no English and only speaks Hausa. He sees my camera and begins to make a run for it. I tell him I will buy a couple of sponges; by “tell him” I mean I show him some Naira and then point to the sponges. He sees that what I’m about to give him is way more than the sponges' cost. He looks like he hasn’t sold one in years. - he starts to look worried like why is she giving me a thousand Naira for a couple of 100 Naira valued items. (Nigerian currency). He starts to run away again. at this point, he probably thinks I want to kidnap him. I make eye contact with another dude who’s watching my every move with this guy. - he tells the sponge seller in Hausa that “she will pay you for the picture but charge her 2000 Naira and you give me half” - how do I know? My uber driver speaks 5 different native Nigerian languages; Hausa being his first. So he translates. - I tell the sponge guys translator that I’m no longer interested. - we do small Shakara (call their bluff” and began to walk away. “The sponge guy says “ok 500 Naira”. I gave him 1K (less than $3) - he looks at the money and smiled wildly I take multiple photos of him. They’re beautiful because his smile went away and the face he had when I first saw him returned.so it was genuine.

THE REST OF THE STORY. As I was taking the last photo...An area man (street gangsta/self-appointed neighborhood watchman) screams “hey you!l you can’t take his photo without paying me”. That’s right, without paying him. Not the guy I took the photo of, but HIM. He now called a bunch of dudes and they formed a circle around us and threatened jungle justice. “Fight or flight” kicked in. I told him “wetin you go do if I no pay you.?” He looked me in the eye and said “try am. Na today you go know say you dey my side). Was I scared? I’m not sure. But I knew I’d already settled the guy who is in this photo and he was happy. So I didn’t pay him. And I’m alive to write this post.

Something similar to has happened to me literally every time I wanted to take a photo in a public place in Nigeria whether it’s of an actual person or just a pretty wall. Everyone wants to be the “gate keeper”. But I’ve got the keys.