Simbarashe Namusi
Back in the day, we used to flip through Pacesetters novels and laugh at the chaotic magic of Lagos. Endless traffic jams, hustlers on every corner, bus conductors who spoke faster than auctioneers, and “oga at the top” stories that seemed too wild to be true. We thought Nigeria was a faraway circus, and Harare was a quiet civilised town where kombis queued properly.
Fast forward. Welcome to 2025. Harare has graduated with honors from the Lagos School of Hustle.
Our kombi conductors scream like Nollywood extras: “Town! Town! Town! One munhu, one mari!” You enter, and before your bottom even finds the seat, they’re demanding fare. The traffic? A slow-motion Nollywood drama of Honda Fits playing Fast & Furious on potholes the size of swimming pools.
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Vendors? Lagos would clap for us. From tomatoes to toothpaste to “free scans” that come with USD prescriptions, Harare pavements are open-air supermarkets. Every corner is a Balogun Market waiting to happen.
Downtown? It’s Lagos live! From the extravagantly named Gulf to the equally misnamed unglamorous Copacabana, every square inch is a carnival of chaos. Bars sprout overnight like mushrooms in rainy season — each promising “VVIP experience” but serving the same warm beer.
Shop attendants? Forget customer service; they’ve reinvented themselves as part-time radio presenters. You enter a store for soap, you leave with a headache, thanks to a running commentary shouted over deafening Zimdancehall.
And the politicians? Ah! They’ve mastered the art of Lagos big-man swagger. SUVs with tinted windows, handshakes that smell of tenderpreneurship, and speeches that could win Pacesetter awards for fiction.
The only thing we’re missing are the okadas but give it time. Harareans are creative — we already have pushcarts and hambas weaving through traffic like stunt doubles.
So yes, we laughed at Lagos once upon a Pacesetter. But now, dear reader, Harare has entered the novel. The difference? Lagos at least has the Atlantic Ocean; we’re still arguing over who owns the Mukuvisi River.
Simbarashe Namusi is a peace, leadership and governance scholar as well as media expert. He writes in his personal capacity
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