NOT ALL MAD PERSONS ON THE STREETS ARE MADDER THAN A LAGOS BUS DRIVER by Onyebuchi Odianjo

NOT ALL MAD PERSONS ON THE STREETS ARE MADDER THAN A LAGOS BUS DRIVER  by Onyebuchi Odianjo        

#TrishdiansLagosSeries     

First day at work! It was pretty exciting. Going home was hectic as I had to jump from one danfo to the other. It was the peak of rush hour; that very day, I stood for over 20 minutes for a bus because every time I tried getting into one, every man and woman around me would hurriedly get in before me, some even pushed me out of the way just to get in. ‘Choi! No shakara for streets oh!.’

Then 10 minutes passed, and it kept happening, “I really have to leave here!” I murmured to myself.  As soon as I saw the next danfo bus approaching nobody had to tell me, I chased after the bus! (I looked funny running). That’s how I got a bus heading to Ojota. We got into a little traffic, beside the road was this scraggy looking man talking to himself and something strange happened.

Out of nowhere, the man used what he was holding to hit the wheel screen of the bus; our driver immediately swerved to his corner and almost ran over the supposed ‘mad man.’ That was how our driver came down and started throwing punches on this man; I began to scream “Please somebody stop the driver! Please so he doesn’t injure this man” nobody said a word, not even the soldier sitting in front. I kept screaming, and after like 40 seconds the soldier finally came to the rescue and separated them. The driver was so furious because the guy had broken his screen.

However, I realised that I was the only person screaming for mercy in the entire bus. I noticed that even when the fight happened just by the road in broad day light, no one seemed to care or park to stop the fight. I finally thought, even when this man looked mad, the bus driver didn’t care about his state and almost beat the living day light out of him. “Lagos na wa oh” I wondered to myself. I got home and shared the story with my big cousin, and he said: “Omo nobody send for this Lagos oh.” But then I learnt a few lessons from this.

Firstly, when it comes to jumping buses, you are not a lady or gentle man, but a hustler trying to get a bus at no cost, ‘so send nobody.’ Secondly, when you see a fight on the street, don’t be surprised if no one comes to the rescue, they probably had a long day or don’t care; also, it is not every fight that concerns you, painful to say but sometimes look away. And finally, not every mad looking man on the street is madder than a Lagos danfo driver.

    

Share your thoughts…