My View of Lagos from the Thirteenth Floor
Eko aromi ṣalẹ.
Standing in awe of something big can make it look small from a distance.
I opened the door, and the rush of the breeze almost took my breath away. It gave me goosebumps. I moved closer to the edge, and all I could see was a perfect picture from every angle.
From the waterside to the beautiful fall of the buildings, to the rush of the city moving along the roads, everything seemed to unfold beneath the open sky. The rising sun added another layer of beauty to the city.
Even the car horns sounded like a melody.
I couldn’t imagine a better view or a better place to escape from the constant hum of air conditioning that had consumed our office.
As I reached the edge, I believed, for a moment, that I could fly.
But I couldn’t bring myself to try.
I held tightly onto the barrier as though my life depended on it.
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It actually did.
My friend Amira looked around and said, “It’s nice up here, Kenny.”
She paced around like she was in an art gallery, searching for the perfect pieces to admire.
And perhaps that was exactly what it was.
An art gallery.
Only this time, the artwork wasn’t hanging on walls. It was Lagos.
I got this glimpse because my friend and I had gone up there to pray, and somehow, along the way, we explored a place most people working at KPMG probably hadn’t seen, the thirteenth floor.
It wasn’t normally open.
They say luck unlocks beauty.
There were over a thousand people in that building, but I wondered how many of them had ever had the chance to stand where I stood and behold Lagos from that height.
Maybe sometimes, beauty isn’t far away.
Maybe we simply need to stand somewhere different to see what has always been there.
