Travelling with public transport has become a norm for most people in Nigeria if not all over the world especially those who are not privileged to have a car. I can't really count how many times I have travelled with public transport because they are so numerous to count. I am someone who loves travelling and because of this, I am always on the road but not now anymore though since I can't even remember when last I travelled.
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I have actually had so many memorable experience travelling with public transport but there is this particular one that lives rent free in my head and it's sure something I would never want to experience ever again in my life? A Journey of just 16hours became a journey of 52hours and there was nothing I could do about it.
After 2years I closed down my marketing business, I decided to go start it up once again in Kano State. At first, the journey was so smooth when I travelled down to Kano to do the necessary survey and also to rent an apartment for the business. But since I can't do a business without goods, I decided to travel down to onitsha to meet with my previous customers and get goods from them instead of just communicating with them through phone.
I got to onitsha safely, bought the goods and headed back to Kano. I had to take a night bus because of the distance. The first thing that got me annoyed was the high cost of transport which I had no other option than to pay. The second was that despite the huge amount we paid, the driver still had to overload the luxurious bus with people that had no seat to sit. He collected half of the fare from them because they will have to stand throughout the journey except someone goes down before they get to their destination. I was really pissed because I was just so uncomfortable. I got thinking and asking myself why these drivers don't have conscience not knowing the worse was about to come.
After 8 hours on the road, the bus broke down. Efforts to repair the bus were futile as the bus refused to start. Worse part of it was that we were in the middle of nowhere. We all had to wait till morning before knowing what next to do. When it was morning, we tried contacting the bus company to send another bus to come take us to our destination since our bus has refused to start but they didn't send any. The driver had to go to the nearby town to get a mechanic and even when the mechanic came around, he still couldn't fix the bus.
It was getting late and people were already getting tired. Nobody would want to sleep in the middle of nowhere again. The risks were just too much and what if we get attacked by robbers? Many passengers started finding other means to leave but I couldn't leave because of my goods but at that point, I was already fed up because I was both hungry and tired and there was no place to buy something to eat. My phones were already down same with my power bank. Can you imagine I spent another night there without eating anything?
I couldn't take it anymore the next morning. The hunger was real and it was telling on me real bad. I had to find a way to get my goods out of the bus and I started looking for a bus that would take me to the next town so I can just find a place to freshen up and eat. Fortunately for me, a big truck stopped after I waved the driver to stop. I had to climb to the back of the truck with my goods not minding how slow the truck would move provided I get out of that place.
I got to the nearby town and found out that they don't have anything like hotel there. I couldn't lodge and I couldn't freshen up. I had to look for something to eat and I then embarked on my journey once again. I couldn't see a bus that would take me straight to Kano and so I had to board different buses till I got to my destination and this made the journey to tough for me since I had to be doing this with my goods.
To be sincere, it was a terrible experience. I never expected that I would be on the road for 52hours. The mistake I made was being in the same bus with my goods. I should have sent it as a waybill while I go alone. At least I wouldnt have suffered the way I did. I learnt a very big lesson that day and since then, you won't see me travelling in the same bus wih my goods. I always find a way to waybill them even before I leave because I know I will always get there before the goods.
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