You cannot see it all with Lagos traffic, it’s like the city does not know anything about order or common sense. The 2^nd part of my road experience this week was the biggest deal that shook me more and really moved me to tears realizing how dysfunctional our society had become. Hope you have read the part 1 of my road experience, Lagos Drama: It’s not a Cliche? Don’t miss it!

Leaving work on Friday evening around past 6pm, tired and hungry, I felt my brain was lacking glucose to process anything. I boarded a bus at Ojuelegba heading to Ikeja. I resignedly sat on the seat beside the driver awaiting whatever traffic that awaits. The bus had not journeyed for five minutes when the driver saw the line-up of cars in traffic. He tried to avoid the traffic and he took another route heading towards Yaba.

In the midst of the mad traffic, my bus driver somehow collided with a my car and the my car driver/owner sped to the front to block the bus I boarded. My bus driver halted in motion and the my car owner threatened my danfo bus driver for barging his car.  After all the noise, we all knew that the danfo driver can’t do anything to repair the damaged car, so when the driver felt he could escape from the car owner, he hopped in behind the wheel but the car owner tried to wrestle the wheel from him as the bus had started to move. This led to confusion, commuters were afraid that the bus would veer off the road.

 As this was happening, a cart pusher that was gently pushing his cart was hit by the danfo bus I boarded because the driver had lost control of the wheel as he sped-off from thecar owner. The driver ran over the cart pusher and started running from his added problems of a barged car and an almost lifeless man that he just hit.

The driver drove on an unsafe speed, running from his problems, at the same time, myself and other commuters were afraid, we begged the driver to slow down while some called on whatever they believe to save them. I kept saying ‘Eje Jesu’ (Blood of Jesus). After some couple of minutes, the driver reduced his speed when he felt that he was not been followed. Moving further, some couple of minutes later the vehicle started to exhale puffs of smoke and halted by itself.

I was just looking at him in thought that his village people really wanted to deal with him today oo. How can someone’s car that is on the run suddenly stop at the middle of the road? As if we have not seen anything yet, the hot chaser, the car owner caught up with the Danfo driver, parked his car in the middle of the road and created another hinderance to traffic.

 People were telling him to go and park his car properly somewhere off the road but he didn’t listen, the man kept saying ‘come and carry the man you killed’, this is the best part to sing ‘he don happen I don tell  am, he don happen I don tell am, motor don jam am, I don tell am’ it badly happened for this man. To think that he is an elderly man and he didn’t have conductor. He was solely responsible for his actions.

Somehow, I saw another bus heading to Ikeja, I didn’t even bother for the refund of the money that was paid earlier to the former danfo driver. I just boarded another vehicle going to Ikeja and I realized that one of the commuters who was the danfo driver’s main supporter during the collision had left his new friend alone.

One would think that the danfo drama will end there but it didn’t because the conductor of the danfo bus I just boarded insisted on having four commuters per row as against the government’s social distancing rule of 2/3 persons per rows. Immediately, a woman who was commuting with her 3-4-year-old daughter noticed this, she complained about it and she insisted to alight but the driver didn’t stop for her. Eventually she had the opportunity to alight when he wanted to pick new commuters.

The bus conductor requested for money from the woman but the woman didn’t give because she had not even gotten to a quarter of her journey and she wasn’t going further with the bus. The bus conductor insisted on getting paid and was rough handling the woman’s daughter even as the woman tried to snatch her daughter free from the conductor. It was a heartbreaking seeing the young girl being dragged between conductor and a helpless mother.  Other bus commuters and driver had to intervene before the bus conductor could let go of the girl and her mother.

Different emotions welled through me after the unpleasant experiences I had. First, I felt tired of life, Lagos, the Lagos hustle/life. I felt disappointed in our society where we have no regard nor value and I felt raged for how badly dysfunctional our society have turned out to be. 

As for the old danfo bus driver, he was simply a product of his bad decisions and impatience. If he had been patient enough, he would have passed through the normal Fadeyi bridge and not face such ill- fated accident. He kept moving from one bad decision to another and running away from the consequences of his actions but somehow Karma has a way of always catching up with whoever plays into her net. He could be charged for hit&run and will pay damages for collision with a  my car.

In all of these Lagos dramas, I personally picked that the processes of every turn and decision should be carefully made in order to avoid making bad decisions. This might require patience but I am sure that the price of patience is minimal compared to the heavy consequence of bad decisions.  Also, I look forward to a sane Lagos where order and a sense of rightness is normal to us and it also reflects in our lifestyles as Lagosians.

Trust you are enjoying the weekend. So, enjoy the cool and peace it brings.

Je t’aime mon ami