After a recent three week visit from the US to Lagos, Ibadan, Ijebu-Imusin, Accra, and several other places in between, one phrase I could not stop using was “What a Country!” Of course, the wording came from the title of Kunle Ajibade’s recent book. Why wouldn’t I appropriate Mr. Ajibade! The same historical forces produced us, after all. Whether he knew it or not, Kunle Ajibade’s exclamation--or is it an exasperation--speaks for a large stratum of living Nigerians. As it does for Mr. Ajibade, this country that many of us love very dearly surprises, perplexes, inspires, revulses, and frustrates us all, frequently at the same time. Somehow, on this trip I developed a new appreciation for what newspaper writers describe as petty trading. Maybe that was because of my formative experiences which were partly derived from my mother’s (and that of many other women around me) involvement in small scale smoked fish retail trade. For reasons I do not know, the image of petty traders burned it...