Every country has its own form of difficulties and challenges when it comes to transportation depending on the rate at which the governing body of such country have invested in the development of the country. In my country we have different sectors of the society that demands improvement mostly the transportation sector due to its role in individual daily activities. from a state transportation system you could easily deduced the rate of development in such country.
Have been home for almost a year now, moving back to my permanent resident in ikorodu Lagos State. a place known for its chaotic existence ranging from angry commuters, illegal tax collectors and the unhinged passengers. as bad as it might seem, it is a fun place to be just like the proverb says "Lagos is never asleep".
Though if I was able to have it my way, I would have preferred to stay in Abeokuta Ogun State, where the street are less crowded but what choice do I have, duty calls. I try my best no to have anything to do outside my community because I don't longer have what it takes to withstand the stress from moving from one place to another in Lagos. despite this there times I still have to run errands for my family and when it comes Lagos transportation system, one trip is enough for you experience series of dramatic events. Though I have experienced a lot of chaotic events while going on trips in Lagos State but there is a particular one that will forever remain the craziest trip I have ever experienced.
Last year my dad said he wanted to buy some spare parts for our spoilt water pumping machine. I would have said no if I could but knowing how heavy those metal parts could be, I tried persuading him to take his car along but he said the cost of buying fuel to fill up the car is more expensive than the cost of our transportation there. At that moment I had no choice but to oblige.
Trying to beat the traffic we set out early in the morning and board a commercial yellow bus {known as danfo} to Ojota, we would have chose the blue bus but the queue was too long. for anyone who is familiar with Lagos you would know how dramatic those danfo drivers can be. their usage of words is always so rude but what choice do we have.
After the whole drama of calling passengers to board the bus, the bus finally moved. what a relief the possibility of getting to ketu before 9am is almost possible. we got to ebute in ikorodu, there was a little bit of traffic there but the driver found a way to bypass the traffic and slide into the BRT lane which is considered as an unlawful act and punishable offence in Lagos State but most commuters don't really care about such rules.
Moving as fast as he could to beat the morning traffic and also avoid getting caught by LASMA, the bus driver was driving like he was handling a video game. It is a regular custom among commuters in Lagos for them to announce each bus stop to alert the passengers in case they have gotten to their destination. it is a duty of the conductor an individual that hangs around the door way of the bus, usually in charge of collecting money from passengers. but due to the driver's manner of driving, he did not even pay attention to the noise of the passengers.
A man sitting behind me was alerting the driver that he has gotten to his destination but the driver turned deaf ears to it, I guess he didn't want to stop in the BRT lane to avoid getting caught. the man kept shouting to alert the driver but he just continue to act as if he wasn't the one he was talking to, eventually the man kept quiet and said nothing. we all tried to talk to the driver on his behalf but this man asked us not to bother.
from the looks of this man, he was wearing a black shade, it seems he is blind, that is what I thought but I was wrong. I felt so much pity for him because I knew he would have to pay extra money to get a bike or bus back to his destination and knowing how expensive transport fare is, what the driver did was just unfair. since the man asked us not to worry about it we all kept quiet and mind our own business.
few hours later we got to ketu, the driver manage to sneak out of the BRT lane into the service lane. knowing that the driver has finally stopped, the man stood up and got out of the bus and make his way towards the driver seat window and seek for his balance, I guess the driver was owing him about ₦100. though the man should have asked the conductor for his balance but he chose to ask the driver. while the driver was trying to reach out to the conductor sitting behind him, this man stretched his hand through the window, made his way to the car steering and removed the car key.
As soon as he removed the key from the bus ignition, the bus engine stopped, the driver turn towards the steering to know what was going on, immediately this man had already crossed to the other side of the road. the driver finally realising that this man has removed his car key, tried to chase him but this man immediately got on a bike and left with the drivers key. the driver still trying to find a bike to chase this man, he got caught by LASMA who were already parading his car for staying too long on the service lane.
with the way things have played out, we have no choice to get out of the bus, collect our balance from the conductor since he has failed to drive us to our destination which is Ojota. we all left the driver there with his problem.
I kept wondering, if the the driver had applied patience, all this trouble could have been avoided, I guess he probably taught the man was not capable of causing any trouble.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Craziest car experience" in hive learners community.
