The reality is that most people in Abuja actually live a fake life. Since I got posted to this town, I realised that my salary only pays my rent and put food on my table. No savings anymore, in Portharcourt I stayed in a 3 bedroom spacious apartment with less than the amount I am paying in Abuja for a one bedroom flat. Sometimes I feel stuck, I cant just quit my job without an alternative. Contracts are only for the really connected people.

All the schools in town are so expensive that I wish that Government should use the Ebola excuse and close all the schools till January 2015 so that I can accumulate more monthly salary to pay for my kids.

While you are struggling to pay your rent in Abuja, you find several unoccupied mansions around you with so high rent that they remain unrented for years, the owners dont care because only few of them struggled to make the money to build those mansions in Abuja, majority are from govt coffers and inflated contracts.

Abuja can be frustrating, my friend wants to relocate to Abuja by asking for transfer from his office, I have been advising him not to be deceived by the lack of heavy traffic and beautiful street lights at night and since he is gainfully employed in Lagos, with all the hassles in Eko, he should just be visiting to seek for opportunities or to have fun but not outright relocation with his family.

Abuja doesnt seem to have a soul of its own. The only alternative is to relocate to outskirts like Maraba/Nyanya where the traffic snarl to the city center every morning and evening will make you feel like your lifespan is been cut short, now it has been worsened by Soldiers doing stop and search against Boko Haram.

I was going to fault this theory but the more I read, the more I realise that I know one or two or three or more ppl who fit the descriptions in almost each paragraph. Abuja will tempt u to thiff!

[color=#000099][/color] ok o u suppose knw sey all dose pple wey dey build dat kind houses most of dem deir way nor clear

for d 1st time in. ma life i couldn't read a post and still i scrolled dwn to see if i can understand d post tru people's comments buh i couldn't!!! what's d man saying self??

i cant do politics.

Wow....this is deep,na wa o,so all our money just siddon for abuja...

Poster how can i relocate to abuja, imagine the kind of cash this people are calling billions chai when I dey rejoice say I don make money,don't even know this just change but this country get money shall , abuja here I come

Very interesting read...The only way to kill corruption in this country is when people start asking for the source of uncertain wealth. U can imagine how even pastors allow criminals sow seeds of corruption all because we love money more than we actually fear the God we claim to serve. Nigerians need a change of value system.....money isnt everything.

I dnt blame them, Abuja is a mean plc, itz either u get rich or u die trying!
I was once there tho I left but I am cumin bk. This tym fully prepared

Fresia01: for d 1st tumor in. ma life i couldn't read a post and still i scrolled dwn to see if i can understand d post tru people's comments buh i couldn't!!! what's d man saying self??

Its a shame that a pretty young lady like yourself cannot take the pain to read.

Abuja is a city where many young people live very fake lives.

I'm very sure there was a thread like this initiated by Lynpetra;
This houses are completely empty and numerous. You keep wondering why its this way.

A classic post. If Nairalanders write like this, Nairaland will be bigger than Facebook.

I love abuja.

Nice/timely post! Nig needs an urgent rescue! The system stinks.

My friend and I met this guy in Abj,he's a minister's son (i won't say which minister). One day we went with him to see his dogs,the dogs stay in one of his father's houses in Prince and Princess estate (houses in that estate are pretty expensive). The house was a 5 bedroom duplex and guess who lives in the house 3 of their dogs and 2 men in the boys quarters who take care of the dogs,we were dazed A very big well furnished house just for dogs?
we finally went to their family house in maitama, Christ , I cant even remember how many cars i saw in that compound,the boy has 2 cars of his own,his sister also. the house was so big every room had an intercom to call each other. Infact lemme stop here,Nigerian politicians are very greedy....

Look at expo

I second the OP on the issue of shops. Imagine someone opening a shop in Silverbird to sell Mexican art, as in are you for real? Mexican art? To Nigerians? Somebody most definitely has a money-miss-road somewhere.

Fresia01: for d 1st tumor in. ma life i couldn't read a post and still i scrolled dwn to see if i can understand d post tru people's comments buh i couldn't!!! what's d man saying self??

With this your grammar how will you comprehend the post?Girl you have a long Way to go.

@topic all the author of the passage said is true.Obasanjo's Lily's court in Area 10 comes to mind.An estate unhabited for decades wasting away.That Abuja will almost make you lose your mind.I enjoyed and still miss Abuja.A place I still see as my second home.The only presentable city in Nigeria.Can't wait to visit very soon.

Horayce: Best article I've read on here in a while

seconded

Nice expository essay, well written, fantastic piece and yet, just a single like. Smh.

lilprinze: Nigeria politicians looting and wasting our money anyhow since 19BC.

unfortunately you've been typing without your brain since 1993

If I tell you that ma sister bought her 4bedroom duplex in asokoro for 116milla, you will know that's wassup wassup! well her husband na oil magnate sha!! As form me the only house I'll buy in Abuja that will worth that amount is the house that Jesus christ will lodge into when he returns to earth!!

freeradical: Its a shame that a pretty young lady like yourself cannot take the pain to read.

Bros, did you just say "pretty"? . Well, if most ladies could upgrade the contents in their brain half the way they upgrade their hairstyles, a bulk of them would be scholars. Their hairstyles are always due for an upgrade but never their brains.

Abuja just doesn't appeal to me as somewhere i'd wanna settle fully in my youthful years. More like a retirement home to me. I like the busy life of lagos. I like the traffic even more than i hate it. I like the population. I like that there is always somewhere i can go to anytime i'm bored. I like the fact that i get to meet people like me who are hungry for success. I like the fact that if i can conquer in Lagos in spite of the limited resources, i can conquer anywhere else in the world. I like Lagos and i like all its faults too.

Just imagine campaign promise to make sure everyone with a house there show how they bought it or it gets seized

Interesting!

The richest people are sometimes the dumbest in nigeria. The tax system that systematically exempts the rich from paying tax allows this waste to continue. Our poverty is our creation.

uzolexis: My friend and I met this guy in Abj,he's a minister's son (i won't say which minister). One day we went with him to see his dogs,the dogs stay in one of his father's houses in Prince and Princess estate (houses in that estate are pretty expensive). The house was a 5 bedroom duplex and guess who lives in the house 3 of their dogs and 2 men in the boys quarters who take care of the dogs,we were dazed A very big well furnished house just for dogs?
we finally went to their family house in maitama, Christ , I cant even remember how many cars i saw in that compound,the boy has 2 cars of his own,his sister also. the house was so big every room had an intercom to call each other. Infact lemme stop here,Nigerian politicians are very greedy....

I know the minister but lets just leave it like that

And this is just a summary of what politicians do in Abuja.

Very enlightening piece of literature, I enjoyed every bit of it. I commend the prowess of the writer.

OP, You ve said it all, that not withstanding ,we still have good number of honest businessmen..