Taofik: How I escaped death and started a family under Oshodi bridge
I had just finished having conversations with the top three winners of the Chess in Slums competition under the bridge in Oshodi when one of the men who provided security for the team for two weeks sat in front of me. He said he would love to be interviewed because “he had a story to tell.”
“I would like to tell you how I got here to start living under the bridge, marrying my wife and having two children.”
He had watched me and the young boys talk about their lives under the bridge in Oshodi and how the Chess in Slums project had become a ray of hope to them.
“We also contributed to the success of this chess game,” Taofik said proudly and tapped his branded shirt. He then propped himself up before talking about his journey from Oyo to Lagos and then back to Oyo before eventually moving to Lagos again, where he has lived under the bridge.
Early life
“My name is Taofik Salaudeen, and I am 32 years old. We were the ones that provided security to the ‘chess people’ when they came here to teach them. We were even the ones who helped them get the boys to come together for the training. We also told them how to keep them concentrated and focused during the training period.”
Taofik said he was happy with his contribution to the Chess in Slums project in Oshodi, particularly as he knew Fawaz when he arrived under the bridge. He said people around him have shown him his picture online, which has brought him joy. The only kind of joy he last experienced as a kid growing up
Taofik’s mother had eight children in a house of joy as he described it. His father was a middle class who was one of the few people in the area who owned a car. Then an incident that he chose not to talk about specifically made his father sell his car.
“Something happened to me growing up that affected my family. My father was forced to sell his car, and he also spent a lot of money. My mother, too, spent a lot of money just for me to survive. This turned things around badly for my family as my parents struggled to take care of eight children.”
Taofik felt a sense of guilt about the family’s economic situation, mainly how it affected his siblings. He watched as they went hungry and could not bear it. In 2001 at age 12, he left home to stay with some of his friends hustling on the streets.
For two years, Taofik roamed the streets of Oyo doing menial jobs with his friends. They worked as conductors and helped people carry loads in the market. In 2003 at the age of 14, his friends suggested that they try their luck in Lagos for a better fortune.
“I had stopped going to school by then, and there was no hope of a better life in Oyo, so I agreed to go to Lagos.”
From Oyo to Lagos back to Oyo
“When we came to Lagos, the first place I went to was Lagos Island, where I roamed around for a while doing nothing before I finally found my way to Oshodi. I was not familiar with anywhere in Lagos, so things were a bit difficult. Then I met one woman named Asi Mama who asked me to come and start living with her.”
Taofik moved in with the woman helping her with chores while she paid him a salary at the end of the month. She also provided him with food and clothing. Things were going well for him here until one day, the woman informed him that she would be leaving Nigeria for the US in a couple of months.
“I was sad because, from the money I was making there monthly, I was able to send a little to my family in Oyo for their upkeep. Learning that she would be leaving the country affected me, and I started to misbehave there, refusing to run errands for her. This strained our relationship, and she asked me to vacate her house.”
In that same period in 2008, Taofik’s mother came to Lagos to urge him to return home so she could help him put his life in order.
“For a long time, I refused, but she begged me to. Finally, I agreed and at the age of 19, I packed my bag and returned home.”
Back in Oyo, Taofik, through the help of his mother, started to learn how to cut hair at a barbing salon. At the end of his apprenticeship, he began his own barbing business. Things, however, were difficult financially due to low patronage. Then his mum died suddenly in 2009, and his world fell apart. In 2011, three years after his return to Oyo, Taofik again packed his back and returned to Lagos.
Return to Lagos…and suffering
“I returned to Lagos because I thought I could go back to the place I was working. However, things did not go as I planned, and I moved to this place (under the bridge in Oshodi) to start my life. Here I have done different kinds of jobs: I have worked as a conductor, sold goods in traffic, dug gutter, carried load; any type of job that will bring me money here, I have done. That is how I have survived since I got here, and it has not been easy. “
Taofik spoke about the danger he has encountered while living under the bridge and how he has experienced abuse and pain.
“Some days, police can come here to raid us. Anyone that is caught will be dumped in prison and sometimes forgotten. If you are lucky, they can torture you before releasing you. I cannot count the number of my friends that have disappeared from here. Some have been arrested, and some have been killed. There are also some that I have not seen and don’t know if they are still alive.”
He also spoke of an incident when someone called them for a job, and they were all driven to an unknown location, and everyone suddenly fell asleep. He panicked and told the people who organised the so-called job that he wanted to use the restroom and fled.
“I ran away and rill today, I cannot locate the place, and I have never seen the people we went for the job together again. I do not know what happened to them.”
Taofik recalled that one unforgettable fight in 2015 under the bridge one midnight that could have cost him his life. He was asleep when a commotion around him awakened him. In the dark, he tried to flee but ran into the thick of the fight, where he was stabbed in the face.
“I was lucky to survive but, not many others were. That’s to tell you how dangerous living in this condition can be”
Despite all the danger that has characterised Taofik’s experience under the bridge in Oshodi, he is grateful that the circumstance provided him with an opportunity to meet his wife there.
“I met my wife in 2015. She worked as a salesgirl at a betting shop, and we became friends. From there, I told her my love and intention for her, and she agreed, and we started our relationship. After a few years, I met her parents in Oyo state, and I also introduced her to my family members, and our union was blessed.”
Taofik and his wife had their first child in 2018 and his second child in 2019. He said having a family has made things more difficult financially for him but has also put him under pressure to forge a better path for himself for the sake of his family, especially his children.
He complained that the rising cost of goods makes being a proper father to his children difficult and calls on the government to help him.
“I am willing to turn things around for their own sake, to give them education and encouragement because it will be a shame if they grow up and see me in this condition. Currently, my wife and children stay with someone in Mushin, and they come around to visit. In fact, they left just before we started this conversation.
“I want to make them proud by starting my barbing work afresh and having my shop and home. That is why I am calling on the Lagos state government and the Nigerian government to help me. I am not asking for money; I just want a barbing salon where I can make money to take care of my family.”
Taofik said if he is given such a rare opportunity, he would also use that position to help other people like him who have spent years living under the bridge and are hoping to turn their lives around.
“Many of us here are not happy with the life we are living. We will gladly take any opportunity that offers us a better life. This situation is not what I want my children to inherit.”
Perhaps to convince me of his seriousness, he asked to use my phone to call his wife, and I obliged. After asking about the children, he asked her to speak with me, which I did. After my quick exchange with her, he asked me to save his number and ask his wife to do the same.
Helping to spread the gospel of chess
Taofik was one of the ten people consulted before the Chess in Slums team could carry out their project in Oshodi. He said he did not know it would be a big project that would put his face on the internet but has been happy with how it has turned out to be.
“Although we were told it was a big project, I did not believe. I only got involved to help them turn the lives of these young boys around for good. I know almost all of them and consider them my younger brothers. I have done virtually all the work they do to survive, so I know what they are going through. If they can help the children, I will be happy for them.”
He said this is not the first time people will come around, take pictures with the boys and promise to help them and not show up again. He said the Chess in Slums team was different and saw how serious they were from the beginning.
In the two weeks they held the training, Taofik said he helped organise the young boys. When some people tried to disrupt the programme, he said he and his friends beat and chased them away.
“I know the boy that won, Fawaz. He came here over a year ago. He is a calm boy who is level-headed. I am not surprised that he won.
“I have advised the boys to take any advantage they can get from this chess programme. I know there is a lot of benefit there, which is why I am grateful to Bros Tunde, who organised this programme to change the lives of the children and also our own lives.”
Taofik is hopeful that Nigerians and the government will recognise his good deeds, and he would also have the opportunity to experience a positive change in his life.
“I know many people will read about me, and someone will contact me to help me. That’s what I hope for. If that happens, I will be pleased and will use that opportunity well.”
