LIFE ON A NIGERIAN ROAD
I sit and watch many people every day from a taxi I take to work in the morning. Young men and women going places, rushing to cross the road and trying so hard to get to their various places of work in time. Old and young people walking on the streets with their mind so far away that they don’t even hear the cars horn. I look out the taxi window and see how reckless People are, drivers hitting their horns so stupidly not thinking of the next person, little children running and chasing after cars to sell gala or handkerchief or even sachet water, some stretching their tiny hands to clean the windscreen, “stop! comot from there, you want die?” says the driver angrily, he also sighs and says “chai this children sef, God help us oh” shakes head in pity and drives on.
Still in this taxi I sit so quietly because I follow through to the last stop. At every drop a new passenger enters, some happy some sad. Some smelling bad some with nice perfumes, but I refuse to be distracted I just still look out the taxi window for the life on the streets. All of a sudden I see a checkpoint, it’s the police. The driver pulls over nicely and the officer stretches his hand to the driver and says “Roger” I giggled. The driver answered saying “Officer I just de start work today, nothing de for now.” The police man then says “Oya show me your particulars” when he did this I knew we are in for a little delay. We pleaded with the driver to please give the police man his “Roger” so we can all go. He obeyed and hands the police man a squeezed fifty naira note and the police man reluctantly sighs and says “Oya move,” and the driver drives off .
Still moving we got stuck in a little traffic. I was so unlucky the taxi was right by a large trailer whose oil has not been changed for ages or engine even serviced and the exhaust was right by my window. Any time the trailers engine steams, it sends the carbon from the exhaust right to my face. After this trailer passed came the annoying sound of police trucks with their loud horns and annoying siren taking wrong lanes without any emergency or distress call driving With so much speed. I quickly close my ears and prayed they passed fast before I get a headache. After a while The traffic cleared and we moved on. We later got to a place where the road was so bad that a pregnant woman could have a miscarriage while crossing these potholes. After we passed that road, a man sighs and says in a sad tone “This country sef, when are we going have good roads” I laughed and said “ very soon”. That stirred a huge discussion in the taxi about our country. People in the taxi started talking about what they know and even what they clearly have no idea about but it all seemed true.
Gradually approaching my stop I saw young boys jumping on and off moving buses screaming on the top of their voices names of bus stops for passengers to hop in . It was really a sight, what if they miss a step and fall? who takes the Blame?
Very close to my stop was a traffic warden who always seemed to forget my lane, he calls other lanes to move but mine he always forgets. Finally after motorist have hit their horns for awhile he finally noticed and called my lane then we passed. I tapped the driver and said “dropping de oh driver” he pulled over after twenty to thirty meters from my stop and I paid him and came down. So exhausted I walk gradually till I got to my office, greeted all my colleagues and sat down. I said to myself Oh! what an experience on a Nigerian Road.
Article by: Michael Pepple
submitted : 7th January 2011
Location: Port Harcourt, Nigeria
email: pepple360@yahoo.com
