FIRST LAGOS TRIP

There is always a first time to everything. The decision of traveling to Lagos came as a joke in the middle of a conversation with three friends. You could imagine how happy I was when I told my parents I wanted to follow a friend to Lagos on a business trip and they said it was a wise decision. After 23 years of travelling around the northern region, I was going to see the southern part of Nigeria. Curiosity became my friend.

            On a cold Friday morning, I picked some wears from the laundry I collected in preparation for the journey of life. Headed to the young shall grow bus stop for my ticket. When I got to the clerk in charge of tickets disbursement, I told him it was my first time and I would prefer a sit near the window, so I would be able to see all the towns without having to stress my neck. He complained I came late and gave me sit 35, which was near the emergency exit and he said it was the best sit in the bus; I smiled and walked away to him saying I should be back by 2pm unfailingly. A farewell was necessary so I went back home to see my mum.

            At exactly 2pm I left home for the park. Going through all the holdups because it was a Friday and the Muslims in Sokoto do pray even In the middle of the road since it was a Muslim’s dominated town. When I finally got to the park I noticed there were two buses, one was new and the other one was kinda old. I was happy that since its Lagos we would be the ones going with the new bus, but suddenly the conductor started shouting Onitsha and some other towns and didn’t mention Lagos. My friend we were going for the journey together arrived and I asked him which bus we were to use and he said the old one. The management of YSG doesn’t put their new busses on the Lagos road because the road is bad and would easily depreciate their new buses. When I heard that, I was already imagining how bad the road would be. We entered the old bus at exactly 2:30pm and we moved by 3pm. The nature of the bus already killed my vibe but I was left with no choice since I wanted to see how Lagos looked and I couldn’t afford a flight for myself and my friend.

            Slow and steady from Sokoto we passed through Jega in Kebbi state and approaching koko, suddenly a dark cloud of smoke was covering all over the car. When I saw the smoke, the next thing that came to my mind was fire; so I immediately jumped through the emergency exit consciously though. Everyone in the bus found their way out, it was barely 5hours of journey and the bus was already acting up. I got discouraged and disappointed but I also thought it was one of those experiences I would share someday when all my travelling’s would be by flight. The mechanic in the bus said the dryer got bad and the balloon wasn’t pumping. I got puzzled and asked what a balloon was doing in a luxurious bus; I was told it helps balance the bus on speed. The mechanic removed the dryer and took it to the next town for repairs. I was left with no option other than killing boredom by socializing with other passengers. My mind was at peace because we were next to a military check point. Suddenly someone shouted scorpion and they killed two of the scorpions. The military personnel’s said the area is dominated by scorpions and they would also be going soon. Everyone in the bus started pleading with them to help wait until the bus is fixed and they demanded for 5k in return. Just when I thought it was their duty to watch the roads till duty exchange, I was disappointed. We spent 7hours on that repair and at exactly 3am we continued our journey.

            When I was a kid of around 7yrs I visited the Kianji, when we were approaching Niger state I could barely remember anything. The only town that looked a little good in the eyes was Makwa. The Yauri road is as bad as the road to hell. I saw so many accidents and goods wasted as a result of the bad nature of that road. Heading to kwara it was also a very bad experience because the road was even worst. I was beginning to think why nothing has been done all these wile. The President should pass through that road and feel the pain of the masses. Putting that road in order would be a very good strategy to gain the votes of people living around that axis. When we got to Ogbomosho I saw LAUCTECH and Samuel Ajayi Crowder University; I was beginning to open my eyes to see more even though they hurt because I wasn’t able to sleep throughout the previous night. I was happy to also have a view of the old Ibadan city with all the old zincs and some mud houses; I could see women processing cassava to gari and for the first time I saw women doing the mason job. There are over a thousand of Nissan Micra in Ibadan because it is used as taxi.

I was beginning to have a feel of the south already seeing all the tall trees and fresh fruits all over. I didn’t see much of Oyo state because we only passed by, and Ogun state too. On entering Lagos along the redeemed redemption camp, our driver wanted to swap lane so he brushed a small Mitsubishi car belonging to some Yoruba boys. They got out of the car and were blabbing as Yoruba’s that they were.  Took out our driver’s keys and demanded for 30k for just a 2k front led that was damaged. They delayed us for about 30mins. A police officer travelling with us settled the case and the boys were giving 5k. The holdup around the redemption camp was much. As bad as I thought people in Lagos are, there are so many of them that are willing to serve God with everything that it might cost them, I was so impressed seeing the multitude of crowd heading in and out of the camp.

            On getting to Iddo Park where the office of the YSG is located, we parked but I was already too tired but was surprised my friend was still energetic after 30hours on the road. My buttocks hurt real bad and all I was saying was “Am never coming to Lagos by road anymore”. My friend is used to the stress since he plows the road like every week. We packed our things and I couldn’t find my Dubai P-cap. I was too tired to complain so we headed for the Island where my friend is based. I would share on other experiences I had wile in Lagos for the 5days I spent. Thanks

ELISHA Z. MALEEKS