The Danfo experience

Before I begin this is a real life story

DANFO means BUS

And all happened in the city of Lagos Nigeria in Africa..

I boarded a bus heading to Ikeja from Ojuelegba , on a normal day , the sitting arrangement is usually 4 on a seat , but due to the covid-19 pandemic , 3 passengers had to sit on a seat with each passenger paying 300 naira($0.72) .

After the bus was occupied and the Conductor collected the transport fare from everybody , we had to wait for the two tires at the rear to be pumped by the vulcanizer before we could leave the bus-stop , not until after the passengers complained of the delay , the journey finally started after some minutes .

The driving was reckless , of course not peculiar to Lagos Danfo drivers , after covering some distances , the driver parked and asked the passengers sitting at the extreme end of the each seat to get down , the conductor announced that they were ordered to only carry 2 passengers per seat , why then did you carry 3 passengers ? , He justified their decision by saying 'If they had carried 2 passenger per seat , they would charge a fee of 400($1.1) naira but they wanted to ease the burden of the passengers thus they carried 3 on each seat and charged 300 naira per passenger , When did Danfo drivers start caring about their passengers , I wondered . I was sitting at the extreme end of the last seat , so I had to come down , we were asked to trek a little distance while the bus evade whoever they were afraid of. I was actually in a good mood that morning and I wasn't ready to display the characters of Lagosians because of my fine dressing , so like the 3 other passengers we agreed to trek.

The bus left and we started trekking , the conductor said it is just some few steps but lo and behold , 10 minutes we were still trekking with the bus not in sight , Personally I am used to the crazy behaviour of Danfo drivers and Conductors , but then this is abnormal , still I was just surprised , a lady was among us , she was already 'paraing' , vowing to collect her money back , I knew there was no way she will be getting her money back , she doesn't really look like somebody 'crazy' or 'mad' because only people with those 2 features or people that can borrow those 2 features can get into a fight with Danfo men and win , we finally caught up with the bus after trekking like the Isrealites.

I entered the bus quietly waiting for the drama between the lady , the conductor and the driver . She complained and said she was going to collect her money back , the normal scenario happened , it started with begging from the driver and the conductor , the woman uttered 'You sure say you go reach Ikeja so' , boom ! , the driver ran nuts and shouted 'You be Soldier' , 'wetin dey do you self' , 'You dey craze' . Shuuuuooooo , I was flabbergasted , You are the one at fault , yet you are still the one abusing , the driver parked and was shouting that he was doing us a favour for carrying us ,that he doesn't want to pay fine for carrying 3 per seat among the silly and flimsy excuses he was given , dumbfounded was I , after some uproar he continued driving again , long story cut short , the journey ended eventually leaving me irritated , the first question that came to my mind was 'Can this country ever move forward ?' .

We complain about our leaders , we abuse them , we accuse them of corruption and incompetency yet we citizens are worse than them , our only anger is because we don't have access to the 'national cake' , just a journey of 30 minutes , We were deceived and wronged by the driver and conductor . We have been used to abnormalities and doing the normal has become a sin , Insanity is the order of the day , trying to be sane is a taboo , I wonder if this is how the citizens of 'saner climes' behave , No , I don't think so.

Until we change our ways and do what is right , we will continue to suffer for our misdeeds , no amount of fasting and prayer can suffice .

Let's remember that for this country to move forward we all have to change our ways for the better , starting from me and you , Yes , you reading this.