So, my baby sister was done with her holiday and was finally on her way back to school. She had been home since October of last year and was only just returning to school now. Her trip was today, but she went to purchase tickets yesterday Saturday. By late last night, she had already packed up everything she had and was ready to hit the road.
This morning, like the sweet brother that I am, I escorted her to the park, helping her with the load. There wasn’t much hassle though, since she paid for her ticket yesterday and already had her seat down. She just had to get the ticket at that moment. I remained at the park until her bus was fully loaded and they left.
But then, I noticed something off about the bus. It wasn’t full. I’ve always known commercial vehicles not to move an inch unless they have all their seats filled up. However, that wasn’t even the case. This park was one that was known to be one of the best transport companies in the country, they even had a sort of reputation to their name. They left on time and if a customer arrived late at the park, they could be left behind.
However, it seemed they had dropped off big time. They used to be a big deal that cared greatly about the comfort of their clients, but that’s not the case anymore. They’re only now focused on the money. During loading, they kept delaying and being sluggish as if they were waiting for more and more people to get on board. And despite everything, the bus still didn’t fill up. It’s just sad.
This is just one more of the consequence of what Nigeria is doing to us. Who would I blame for this? The economy? The security in the country? Both? Transport companies no longer print their names boldly on their vehicles so that they avoid attracting the attention of kidnappers. And in recent years, people no longer travel as much as they used to. It’s because of the poor security in the country, and it’s also because of how ridiculously expensive it is.
Traveling with your family is insane when you think of the cost, many people will just choose to forget it all and spend the celebrations where they are. Many people are also scared of falling into the arms of kidnappers or unknown gunmen and armed bandits when they travel. It’s as if nowhere is safe, and while we’re fighting off a battle on one end, there’s another on the other end raging on fiercely.
At least, if we only had security to worry about and we still had a favorable economy, it might have been a bit easier to bear. Or if the economy was terrible and security was a bit more manageable, then people could even trek to their villages if they wished to. Sadly, this misfortune seems to be a package deal. And presently, going on a trip and coming back in one piece is a miracle.
The government doesn’t seem to care about how its policies are affecting both individuals and businesses. Everything is going to hell, but none of that matters. I can only hope that we’ll be fine, eventually. Because if we don’t have that, what then do we have?
