Any Time From Now

We first noticed the leak near our kitchen sink about two months ago. A large puddle of water caused by a continuous drip formed against the outside wall shared by the faucet. More apparent, however, was the mold caused by the leak that had pushed away paint from the entire bottom perimeter of our first floor walls...two feet of mold to be exact. And so began the process: fixing the leak, drying the walls, scraping the paint. After numerous consultations from about 12 different people, we are no closer to mold-free walls than when we moved in.

It is a common belief here that tasks progress at such a slow pace, the only honest prediction for completion is "any time from now." Though often misinterpreted by foreigners as laziness, Lagosians actually pride themselves on their incredible capacity for patience...and given the traffic here, that is a much needed virtue. A rather humorous and make-shift book, "How to be a Nigerian," delineates the daily grind as a constant game with Father Time. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. After all "the clock did not invent man."

But even with this simultaneous respect and disregard for Father Time, my experience with our house mold seems to predict another factor at play...hierarchical compliance. According to one of our guest house employees, "it must go through so many bosses" leaving much more opportunity for tasks to be slowed down or forgotten.

Further prolonging the task, most bosses greedily hanging on to their power, not allowing those below to make a decision. As my friend Eko sees it, "we do not have basic human rights here." Those at the bottom of the food chain "are like birds standing on one leg, observing our new surroundings"...nervous, timid all the time. They are scared of making a decision the boss should be making. "That is why you see so many workers standing around doing nothing" waiting for directions on what to do and how to do it.

I had a chance to see this hierarchical dance first hand. Emanuel, our "head" painter of sorts, came to test primer on our walls. He had a subordinate painter who actually completed the task, meekly following Emanuel around painting where Emanuel pointed and not saying a word. When the task was complete, I asked Emanuel if I could reschedule the next phase of our painting project. Even though Emanuel would be the person painting our walls, or rather telling someone else to paint, I had to inform his boss directly. "Couldn't you relay the message to him?" I asked. "He may think I tried to convince you to reschedule for another day," Emanuel told me.

So for now, I'm resigned to the fact our walls will be completed any time from now, or when the boss says so, whichever comes first.