Stepping into the largest city in West Africa, I was overwhelmed by the thought that this our very own Yoruba speaking city in the west could be awarded such accolade as “largest city in Africa”. I desired to drive around town to see everywhere in this city but I knew that wasn’t possible in one day. Consolation was, I wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
My joy and excitement at residing here and being stationed here began to reduce when I took my first bus, Apata to Dugbe. I must say,This bus looked very good on the outside, deceiving a not suspecting me into getting in. I sat down and felt like I was sitting on steel, unfortunately I couldn’t get off anymore, the bus was on the move what would I have given as excuse for wanting to get off all of a sudden?
As more passengers got in, the real inconvenience began. We had to squeeze into the vehicle. A fat woman got in on the back row where I was and life became totally miserable in the bus. We hadn’t moved 10mins when we got into this terrible hold up, we were sweating inside the bus and out of the blues a foul odour was released. Joining the various odours that had been circulating in the bus.
After this first discouraging experience I decided to limit my means of transportation to just cabs and bikes, but I was disappointed to find out that cabs do not run everywhere in this town. The many bike accidents I had witnessed and heard of made me decide against bikes.
I decided to always avoid the backseat in any bus,but like they say “we don’t ALWAYS GET WHAT WE WANT. I kept experiencing this bus discomfort of a thing , I began to wish I had other options, a personal car, a permanent lift giver like is the case in the society today. Some set of people make sure you give them lift everyday.
Why exactly do buses in bad condition ply our roads? Have you ever been in a bus during a heavy downpour and still feel as if you are directly under the rain? You begin to wonder if you are actually in the bus or on the bus...Why is 80% of the commercial buses in this city in such conditions? To add insult to injury you come across drivers who are cheats, thieves,dirty, Mannerles and unreasonable. Can all of this be blamed on the standard of living in the country?
To be continued...........
