Skip to main content

IFEATU'S BUS CHRONICLE: GAME PADS ARE THE NEW STEERINGS

Image
By


The popular saying when you go to Rome you behave like the Romans does not apply at Lagos Bus Stops when you are new in town.

Opting to ask another responsible looking passenger on the routes a bus conductor is calling out is more advisable than rushing with the mad throng of passengers with the hope that you heard him clearly. This is also what led a friend of mine who had been new in town to board the wrong bus.

The young man was standing enthusiastically for the first time at the popular Iyana-Iba axis as the bus conductor yelled, "Seme! Seme!"

He could bet on his life that he had heard 'CMS!' The rest of the story is being told in our family jokes of how this fellow ended up at Seme, just thirty minutes from Badagry on the coastal road between Lagos and Cotonou.

The bus conductors are rapping the routes they are headed to as usual. I am aboard the 'yellow bus' heading to CMS. I am engrossed with replying messages. Having a long list of messages to reply to is frightening and that is why a stitch in time saves nine.

Procrastinating your supposed actions come with consequences. I am facing mine. As much as people think I am always on my phone, there are days I honestly feel too sore to have my fast and furious fingers prancing like an excited rabbit on my phone.

I lift my face to observe the people around me. The lady in cornrows by side is snopping over my phone. I am tempted to hand her the phone and ask her to serve herself of whatever she wants to see.

Savagery? Did you think of me being a savage? Every Nigerian has an atom of savagery, it's like an inbuilt attribute.

I close my eyes and make a mental note of what I need to do. The bus is moving at a higher speed.

"Driver, you don dey drive like say na you get main road," a plump lady in a navy blue suit warns.

"If you wan die, abeg go die alone o," another lanky bald-headed man is yelling.

I am praying that this mad driver doesn't get us killed. Passengers are screaming obscenities. The road is free of traffic. It was one reason why he was speeding to get to his destination and return for a subsequent trip.

One of the many things you don't know about Lagos roads is that the drivers think in their heads that they are playing a Grand Theft Auto game and as for the bike riders, they are playing a Subway Surf game.

We approach Costain and the minor traffic is building up in front. He decelerates and I heave a sigh of relief. Vehicles are moving at a snail pace. The passengers are calm with just a few still heaping insults on the driver.

He does not reply them instead he increases the volume of his stereo.

Passenger 1 Vs  Driver 0

Safety 1 Vs  Reckless Driving 0
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MEET AYOTUNDE SOFELA, THE FEMALE MECHANIC WHOSE HEART BEATS FOR PROPER MAINTENANCE OF CARS

By
Goldfishes have no hiding place, so I guess this is why Ayo could not find a hiding place either. My first contact with her was on Twitter when I was looking out for women in male-dominated industries. I had an open mind while I was on the lookout but my thought had not given me the clue that I 'd stumble a sweet female Mechanic.  Ayotunde Sofela is a 25-year-old Mechanic from Abeokuta in Ogun state. Born and bred in the boisterous city of  Lagos and a 400 level computer science student at the National Open University (NOUN). She is the dedicated hands behind Ayomatics Garage, a young startup focused on delivering efficient, reliable, and trustworthy automobile repair, maintenance and consultation. "I didn’t always have this passion from childhood. Like most children, I wanted to grow up to be a doctor. I think that was influenced by the fact that I spent my childhood days in the midst of medical practitioners. When I got into a secondary school, that idea chang...
Post a Comment
Read more

CREATING YOUR CERTAINTY IN A NOT-SO-CERTAIN WORLD

By
  We are all living with the same level of global uncertainty. Certainty is what you create. The degree of certainty that you are experiencing right now is what you have decided to create.  Certainty is not bestowed on you from some external source. You create the environment that you are able to prosper from. You decide the level of risk you are comfortable with, you decide whether to change and develop the skill to become comfortable with higher levels of uncertainty. Every day you are assessing risk, whether starting a business, leaving a job, booking a holiday or getting on a train. Not deciding still counts as a decision and this is a decision to remain uncertain. How to Create Certainty in an Uncertain World You cannot control the world or anyone in it but you can trust in yourself.  Here is how to create certainty in an uncertain world: Remember that challenge and change are merely detours in the right direction, if you are open to the lessons that the challe...
Post a Comment
Read more

TOP SKILLS AMAKA'S YOUNG STARTUP NEEDS TO AVOID 'DISAPPOINTMENT'

By
Amaka is one of the smartest people I have met. Come to think of it, she was raised in Onitsha, Anambra State and the ever bustling city of Lagos. You can say business sense comes easy to her, having lived in these two cities.  When the year began, she planned to increase her clientele to at least hundred for the year. Lately, she got a  ink that also enables her get quality supply of super stylish clothes.  However, the goal of the year has been dwindling. She has been on an emotional roller coaster on why her business has not  been going as planned. We all know business has it's good days and it's bad days.  But these... has been bad daaaaaaays. Before we attribute anything to fate and the circumstance. One thing is evident, she has not been making efficient use of her resources that will help her nail her goal for the year.  What in Christ heaven's is she going to do? There is a very thick line between wanting and needing a thing. With the ...
Post a Comment
Read more