Traffic Jam - A Nigerian Story

Hello Everyone,

Here is a story that explains the frustration nigerians go through. Enjoy and feel free to share your thoughts.

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It's a bright and sunny Monday morning in Lagos and I'm yet again in the famous unbearable danfo bus, sandwiched between two big women, one of them holding a baby that won't stop crying. God please save me from poverty so I can buy my own car or atleast go to work in a comfortable Uber car. Lagos is the commercial hub of Nigeria and it's estimated to have a population of 19million people. For a state that has the smallest land mass amongst all the other 35 states, it's illogical to house so many people. Heavy traffic is inevitable and the city is famous for that . While it's a daily occurrence, there's nothing compared to Lagos traffic on a Monday morning. You have to leave your house as early as 6am because a 30 minutes ride can become a 2 hours drive.

Everybody in Lagos is angry and impatient. With the state of things in this country, it's justified. As early as 6:30am, drivers are already hurling insults at each other, conductors at passengers.

Everybody wants to move at the same time, when it is evidently clear that there's little space due to the fact that the roads are not big enough to accommodate all the vehicles. Coupled with the narrowness is the multiple portholes that drivers are trying to manoeuver.
The road is already so busy and blocked; it's filled with private cars, tricycles, danfo, BRT buses, trucks and trailers. Danfo drivers stop every ten feets to pick up new passengers, they park carelessly, too close to the road and sometimes on the road. There are so many people walking on the road. From the school children, men and women going to work and the famous hawkers yelling "buy gala, pure water".

There's absolutely nothing that's not sold in Lagos traffic; ranging from snacks, house supplies, books, pets and anything else you can imagine. You can even buy a house. The hawkers consist mainly of small kids who are unable to go to school. There's a little boy with a blue basin on his head, filled with soft drinks like Coke, fanta, Schweppes, Pepsi. I stretched my hand outside the window and call him. I buy one bottle of Pepsi to clear my parched throat. It costs N150 and I tell him to keep the change of N50.

"Uncle thank you oh, God go bless you well well", he said.
We've been in one position for twenty minutes now, barely moving. Horns are blaring urging other drivers to move when it's clear there's no way. I find it annoying how Nigerian drivers beep their horn just to inform other cars that they are coming. These kind of things don't happen in United States. They only beep their horns in situations where they have to inform the driver ahead of them that there is a green light and should go or to prevent accidents.

My eyes begin to water because of the smoke emitting from the back of the bus and my buttocks hurt as a result of sitting on a wooden chair for long. This drive is already 45 minutes longer than the normal time. The man in front of me dressed in a suit is fanning himself furiously because of the heat. The bus is cramped so there's no way for breeze to come in especially as we're not in motion and are packed like sardines in its can. The thing with Lagos traffic is you don't even know the cause. It could be that a trailer has blocked the road in an attempt to turn, a car has broken down or worse case scenario, an accident which is common considering how carelessly they drive.

The conductor, a man who I guess to be in his late 20s starts collecting the money. An outrage bursts when a man gave him N500 note. Before we got into the bus, he loudly announced that the transport fare was one hundred and fifty naira. He gave a prior warning that he didn't have change and everybody must have the exact denomination. He kept yelling at the man "se o ya were". He threatened to drop the man from the bus. Luckily for him, another passenger offered to pay for him. This kind of goodness is rare in this part of Lagos, he must be God sent, I thought to myself.

Whenever I'm stuck in traffic, I can't help but think of how easy life is outside Nigeria. I've never being to America before but based off the representations in Hollywood, I've never seen heavy traffic. Everything looks so orderly and nobody seems to be in a rush. They obey traffic lights which eliminates the need for traffic warders like we have here in Nigeria. Oh, and they also have public buses that are comfortable. People don't scurry to enter; everything is done in orderliness.

If danfo buses are as comfortable as the ones in America, I wouldn't mind being stuck in traffic. Unfortunately, that's not the case. It's baffling whenever Americans complain of their country. They don't realize how easy life is for them compared to what we have here in Nigeria. If not for anything, atleast for unchallenging mode of transportation. The bus finally starts moving again and I can't wait to get down. It's just 7:15am and the day has drained me already. Lagos the fast city indeed.

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Thanks For Reading!