When
the luxury bus owned by the “Young Shall Grow” transport company finally pulled
off at the Iddo terminus after several stops at Iwo, Berger, Ilesha, Ife,
Ojere, Ojota and what have you, it was so obvious that the longest journey I
have had so far in my history of
travelling have finally come to an end. A journey that lasted a little more
than fifteen hours and one I would not forget in a hurry.
So
when the back door of the long shuttle bus pulled open, I quickly made for the
boot below in search for my luggage. With what one hears about Lagos state, one
cannot help but be careful as far as practicable, lest you become the latest
victim of West Africa’s largest city. Pulling open the lid, there was my
luggage lying helplessly and as though begging me to save it from the troubles
it had undergone, while the arduous journey lasted. Nothing remained, I quickly
removed it and hung it on my shoulder and made for the exit, as though I knew
where I was headed.
“oga!
Where you dey go? You no go need taxi?” a man who looked like one in his early
forties wearing the Yoruba tribal marks asked me. I paused a little in mental
introspection as to what could be the reason for the unnecessary attachment of
“oga” to me by a man who barely know a thing about me! Could it be one of the
usual antics of our people who ascribe the “oga” status to one, just to rip
them off! I thought further before finally answering reluctantly in the
affirmative- I’m headed to Dolphin Estate, and dipping my hands into my pocket,
I reached for my mobile device to show him the full address where I was headed,
as was sent to me by my host-115a Itafaja, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi. Having gone through, he replied in an
exclamatory tone in the typical Yoruba tongue.
“Ah!
I know the place, but Oga! E far well well o!” he retorted. “How much is it
going to cost?” I asked reluctantly as one not interested. “ogah! Na only 2,000
naira e go cost you.you know say, ‘go-slow’ dey well well this morning”, the
young man answered making all efforts to ease the bag off my shoulder.
Suspicious that the man must have read the J.J.C look off my face, and might be
wanting to cash in on that, I moved away a little bit to ask a nearby stander
what it costs for the distance I intend to cover. Our new ‘friend’ responded,
saying “E no suppose pass 1,500 naira oga! You know say hin go carry you reach
the house where you go stay. No be the one wey dem go drop you for road side,
and the play take style far” he concluded. I thanked him and quickly got back
to the taxi-driver who folded his hands and waited patiently while I ran my
background check. All efforts to see him slash the fare to a thousand naira,
came to nothing and in the end I conceded.
Upon
sensing my consent, he whisked away with my luggage and I followed him outside
at a distance to the place where his Volkswagen, Automatic wagon was waiting.
He immediately dumped my luggage into the trunk of the car, and off we headed
into town with beads of sweat jostling for space on my forehead.
“Na
where you dey come from ogah!” he asked as we joined the gridlock that has
already piled up ahead of us. “From Kano state” I replied and before you could
shut the windows, the man had started thanking and praising all the gods of his
ancestors on my behalf for a very successful journey. When the gridlock
relaxed, I was the one to do the questioning now and it was not as to why he
didn’t put on the Air-Condition in his car despite the suffocating amount I had
paid, nor why the weather was so humid here against the harmattan wind still
blowing far North, but instead, I went political. You won’t blame me. With the
posters and billboards of the two key contenders for the Alausa government
house in Lagos State literally dotting every nook and cranny of the metropolis,
there was no way one could take their mind off the unfolding political drama in
the state.
“So
who are lagosians going to vote for, come Feb, 28th, at the
governorship election” I asked. “As for me, I go vote Ambo” Akinwunmi Ambode is
the All Progressives Congress APC gubernatorial candidate for the election. “I
no know for the other people, but majority go vote Ambo”, he concluded. When I
enquired as to what could be the reason why the votes would go the APC way, the
man reeled out what according to him would be the reasons. Hear him, “the
people for here want Continuity. Dem like wetin Fashola do for lagos, abi you
no see the way everywhere clean?” he asked me rhetorically. Meanwhile I was
busy looking around to catch a full glimpse of what could pass as one of
Africa’s most reported cities. “you no see as hin make okada dey run only for
inside streets and that one don reduce congestion, people dey sleep lagos every
morning, afternoon and night” the man continued while I wondered as to how our
people have trivialised governance by bringing the bar of performance so low. I
was going to enquire from him the perception of Lagosians as to the GEJ/Sambo
presidential ticket, but on a second thought, I passed on it and instead went
into other random discussions.
On
telling him that I am a student at the University of Maiduguri and only on a
working visit to Lagos, he could not believe his eyes. In his estimation,
Maiduguri could pass for a deserted land where people who do not value their
life only choose to stay. “How una take dey manage survive for there?” he asked
in utter surprise as we took the final turn to my destination. I made to
explain to him that whatever may be happening at Maiduguri is often time over
bloated by the media just to sell their papers, while he looked like one dazed.
He went on to pour libations on me and prayed that the Boko Haram bomb will
never be my portion.
At
the tail end of the long but engaging ride, the discussion took a different
dimension and moved to the most discussed issues in Nigeria like, the need for
a fiscal federalism, the reason why Igbos have literally left their land to
develop another man’s land, the industrious nature of the Igbo which he
consented to but with a qualification.in his exact words, “the ibo people dem sabi
trade and commerce well well, but the Economy na Yoruba people dem get am”.
When I begged to differ from his position by telling him how the Economic hub
of the nation on a general scale rests on the shoulders of the Igbo, he went
philosophising and preached to me how I was wrong, which ended in a burst of
laughter.
He
had bad words for the Hausas whom he alleged were the problem of the nation.
His reasons: they contribute little or nothing to the wealth of the nation but
only run to the Federal capital at the end of every month to collect Federal
Allocation and go to sleep until when the cake accumulates the next month. Even for them to create a peaceful atmosphere
for trade and commerce to thrive, they cannot. Under their nose, Boko Haram
festered and is today a problem to Nigeria. While he spoke, I kept nodding and
in between that, amazed at how a common taxi driver happen to know much about
the country.
We
soon got to my destination and the man pulling over, rushed to get my luggage
off the car trunk……. Handing him over his money, I asked after his name and
mobile number. “oga! My name na Adeyemi” he said, and reached for my mobile
phone to enter the eleven digits of his MTN line.
Igniting
his vehicle, he rode off, waving happily like one who enjoyed every bit of the
Chat we had.
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