The Learner

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 Starting with an apology to the 19th-century great novelist, Charles Dickens, whose title inspired this piece, the contexts of the two texts cannot, however, be related. The article chronicles my short stays in Mumbai, India, and Lagos, Nigeria, comparing the two and contrasting them with my birthplace, Kano. This was motivated by the striking parallels I have discovered between the two cities. For instance, both are the commercial capitals of their countries; both neighbour seas; both are like convergent points for different ethnic groups; both have headquarters of one of the world’s leading film industries; both are lands of opportunity; both are populated by the posh and the poor, etc. This is a continuation of my Facebook status update from a couple of days ago, while I was still in Lagos. In response to the status update, some people said I haven’t seen anything in Lagos yet. Those people are only slightly wrong. I have, of course, seen somethi...