Why You Should Experience Ghetto Life at Least for a Day

According to wiki, “A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. The term was originally used in Venice to describe the part of the city to which Jews were restricted and segregated.”

The aforementioned definition does little or no justice to what the word ghetto pictures in the minds of many out there.

The Average Nigerian believes the word Ghetto stands for a slum or a overcrowded residential area that was erected out of nothing. In a typical Nigerian ghetto, there are no basic infrastructures, the area is usually not planned and may even not be earmarked by the government as a residential area and most especially, the inhabitants of a typical Nigerian Ghetto are poor and helpless citizens. For instance – Dustbin estate and Makoko.

Simply put, a ghetto is a place whereby the highest level of degradation meets the eye. It’s usually a case of the survival of the fittest. If you are not strong enough to fight for it, then you can’t have it. People in this area feed from hand to mouth and would do anything possible to survive the day.

So when they have an opportunity to see the good side to living, I ‘ll bet that’s enough to spur them on to succeed in life. As for those kids who don’t know another life asides the one they witness in Ikoyi, VGC, Banana Island, Lekki, Maitama, Garki, Asokoro e.t.c, when a major setback confronts them in life that may just be the end to them because they have never known another life

For those of you familiar with various hoods around the country, I was born in Festac and lived there till I graduated from University. Festac may not exactly be a ghetto but it sure has tendencies to be. It is a hood that can end up becoming a ghetto if it continues to suffer the mismanagement that has characterized its existence. So, take my word for it when I say there are lots of advantages to living in a ghetto but please don’t pray for it.

If you’ve ever lived in a ghetto or experienced ghetto life, success will haunt you everywhere you go. If you get just an opportunity to live outside the ghetto, life can only get better for you afterwards.

A scenic view of arguably the biggest ghetto in Nigeria would lay credence to its notoriety and the hustler’s mindset of most Lagosians. A place where the quest for survival is at its highest.

In Ajegunle the average young girl is expected to become a mother before her 18th birthday. You can live in ‘AJ’ for free but what happens afterwards can’t be guaranteed.

Now Ajegunle is a typical example of what the Nigerian Ghetto really looks like. In fact, once the word Ghetto comes up in any conversation, the place that comes to mind is Ajegunle.  Go ask Daddy Showkey, Baba Fryo and Taribo West…

 

Naturally a Ghetto should be a public housing project or subsidized housing but in Nigeria not all hoods and ghettos are public housing projects or even subsidized housing.

People in ghettos are subjected to the worst living conditions they could every experience. For those who never have the chance to get out of the ghetto, there is no future ahead. However, if you make it out of the ghetto you are termed ‘a survivor’.

The root of many talented artistes and athletes around the world can be traced to the Ghetto. As a matter of fact every musician in Nigeria seems to come from the Ghetto

There are some things you learn from living in a ghetto that gives you an edge over others in the arena of life. The type of learning one gets in a ghetto you will never get elsewhere. It teaches you survival. It warns you not to experience that kind of life ever again, whether in the future or the afterlife.

Kids who live in the Ghetto fight a lot and positively this teaches them to fight for everything in life. You can’t grow up in a ghetto and end up a coward, going the extra mile will be your life’s quest.

You would prefer a gang of armed robbers to rob you that a ghetto guy to beat the shit out of you. That’s how hard ghetto life is.

Also, if you ever lived in a ghetto, you will be your own security.

When you don’t live in a community like a housing project, it’s easy to believe that everyone around you has a better life or has less problems than you. But if you live in the hood, you know everyone else in the hood is screwed up and you really learn to appreciate little things

Ghetto life makes you appreciate something most people take for granted, like food. Living in close proximity to other people with problems can drag you down if you let it, but it can also foster gratitude and make you aware that your situation isn’t that bad.

Life is about how you play the hand you’re dealt. Of course good starting cards help, but they won’t determine how much you’ll win or even if you’ll survive the game.

There are lots of people born in the ghetto every year. Most continue the cycle and don’t make it out. A few do a little better but only barely and still have their ties to the ghetto . Then there are the few that get so far out that the ghetto is barely a distant memory and they go on to make massive changes.

In all, what you make out of the Ghetto  makes or mars you. It’s not easy, but anyone can change their life