Hassles of a Naija traveler (1)

I had left the house very early,  before sunrise so I can make it to Ibadan as early as I can. As usual, the car got filled by passengers like me who wanted to arrive their destination early.

I would have known there was trouble with the way the driver sped off the park, when we screamed,  he calmly told us to "calm down" because he was fully in charge.

It was however not a surprise when he brought out a bottle of half-empty dry gin and took a large gulp for a sip. This wasn't the first time a Nigerian driver will drink while on the steering with a bus full of passengers. 

We hadn't driven for up to an hour when we got to a police post. 

"Clear!" The policeman bellowed and lifted his gun menacingly. 

"oga calm down" our driver retorted unperturbed "na we get this road" He said asserting dominance. 

That was when it happened,  one of the policemen came and put his hand through the windscreen by the driver's door and brought out the unfinished dry gin, tasted it at first and then finished the entire contents in one full gulp. then threw the empty bottle away and bent down towards the ears of the driver.

"why you no mix igbo inside am?"

I couldn't hide my disbelief as I wondered what would be the fate of the next commuter who would approach this group of policemen, with fully armed AK 47 rifles and expect to reason logically with them.

We really need to be careful with the way we interact with men in uniforms in Nigeria,  taking into cognizance the fact that we may not be operating from a logical standpoint. This will help to solve most of the problems from our end.

I wish us all safe journey as we go through our daily endeavors on the average Nigerian road.