As a student who relies on Nigeria's infamous public transportation system to commute to my university each weekend, I'm no stranger to bizarre bus adventures. But nothing quite compared to the Saturday morning when my sister and I ended up pushing an out-of-gas vehicle for miles with our own muscle power! Allow me to set the scene...
The journey began innocently enough as we boarded our usual 7 AM van destined for Yaba from the Iyana Ipaja bus stop. Given the early hour, only a handful of passengers were scattered about the aged seats as we embarked. My sister Jessie and I chatted lightly about our plans for the day on campus as the bus sputtered forward.
About 40 minutes into the trip though, I couldn't help but notice the driver fidgeting oddly and checking his mirrors. His driving grew visibly more erratic too. Suddenly, he guided the coughing bus off onto a dirt shoulder, clouds of dust kicking up behind the tires. Confused murmurs rippled through passengers bracing themselves in seats as we jerked to an abrupt halt.
"Sorry oh, I am needing to stop for a moment," the driver announced, exiting the van. "There is small problem with engine."
Jessica and I exchanged puzzled glances as the minute's ticked by. Why weren't we moving again? And would we still make it to school on time now? Out my dusty window I soon observed the driver tinkering under the hood while scanning up and down the lonely roadside. It appeared we had fully broken down miles from the nearest bus stop
Resigning myself to inevitable lateness, I leaned back and closed my eyes. Might as well catch up on lost sleep for school projects, I figured. Ten minutes later though, loud arguing outside snapped me alert.
"Madam, I am trying my best to work this problem the driver bellowed to an angry woman at the front. "The engine cannot go if I don't fix up the faulty part. Please be calming down!"
The realization sparked immediate chaos. We were stranded? Other riders burst into panicked questions, complaints and bargaining. Did anyone have extra cash to call a tow? No cell signals existed out here. How far back was the previous town? The desperate chorus mounted. I simply sat frozen in disbelief ,we couldn't seriously be trapped out here without help miles from anywhere?
In the anxious minutes that crawled by, most passengers seemed to reach the same reluctant conclusion my sister and I stewed over. None could afford an expensive tow which may never even locate us this remote. Walking for help made little sense on this deserted highway either. That left only one mad solution physically pushing the stubborn bus to a station ourselves.
Soon Jessica and I found ourselves straining shoulder to shoulder with frustrated strangers from the back of the bus, tires barely inching forward as we grunted with effort. The overheated vehicle felt like it now weighed several tons! I couldn't believe 2 university girls would spend their Saturday sweating through their clothes to literally move a bus by hand strength.
Yet half an hour later, gasping but victorious, we managed rolling up to a rundown fuel station somehow still operating. I'm certain we made a ridiculous sight emerging from fields behind a coasting bus covered in dirt and sweat. But the shared accomplishments felt oddly freeing.
Strangers high-fived while the newly fueled engine rumbled to life again, billowing fresh exhaust, so the driver had bee lying about the engine been faulty, so it only needed fuel, I
“oh what a life, Nigerian bus drivers”!
In the end after a 3 hour misadventure, Jessica and I of course arrived very late and disheveled to school indeed! But the ridiculous tale felt worth the headache, bringing me closer to some community members I may never have otherwise interacted with so personally. Now heralded fondly as the heroic "bus pushers," I can only laugh looking back on a morning forever memorable for its sheer absurdity ,don't think Jessy found it funny at all that day as she was so pissed.it just another average chaotic transit day here in Lagos, I suppose. Where else but Nigeria.
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