Eyimofe (This Is My Desire)

Mofe juggles two jobs—a day job at a printing press and a night shift fixing electrical equipment—as he stacks money toward a migration to Spain. He imagines a better life beyond Lagos's limits and counts every naira toward visas and tickets. The routine is grueling, but he clings to the hope of escape.

Mofe shares a small apartment with his sister Precious and her two children, keeping a quiet presence as the household runs on little income. Precious manages the household and small trading to make ends meet. Their modest home anchors his dreams, even as tragedy brews on the horizon.

He gathers passport, visa applications, and reference letters, painstakingly lining up documents as his departure plan inches forward. The preparation shows his commitment, even as the future remains uncertain.

Returning one evening, Mofe discovers Precious and the children dead from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty generator. The loss shatters his plans and leaves him to shoulder funeral costs and legal duties alone.

In the aftermath, hospital officials press for payments to release the bodies, and bureaucratic delays complicate burial arrangements. The landlord's threats of eviction intensify the pressure, forcing Mofe to navigate a system that seems designed to break him. He wrestles with the maze of paperwork while trying to secure a proper burial.

Shortly after the tragedy, Mofe discovers his passport has been stolen during a break-in, effectively ending his emigration plans. With the document gone, the prospect of leaving Nigeria slips away entirely.

Mofe meets Rosa at a bar and they begin a tentative, supportive connection amid their separate burdens. The weight of loss and the slow grind of daily life keep them from fully opening up.

Rosa works as a hairdresser and bartender, juggling multiple jobs to support herself and her teenage sister Grace. She rents a cramped apartment and clings to the dream of Italy as a pathway out of poverty.

Rosa's boss at the salon offers to introduce her to a wealthy Lebanese businessman who can help with visas and travel documents, but in exchange for a personal relationship. She views it as a potential route out of hardship, despite the moral cost.

Grace becomes pregnant by Obinna, the landlord’s son, alarming Rosa and threatening their migration plans. Grace falls ill and is hospitalized, and Rosa faces mounting medical bills as Peter withdraws his promised help.

Rosa later crosses paths with Mofe again, but both are too burdened by loss and poverty to connect deeply. Their brief meeting underscores how little has changed for their dreams.

In the final scenes, life in Lagos remains noisy and crowded, with dreams of leaving fading into the background of everyday survival. Mofe and Rosa symbolize the countless Nigerians whose aspirations for a better life abroad are thwarted by poverty and systemic barriers.