I’d gone to get
a visa and was told to pick it up a week later but had to go to work, hubby
stepped in to go and get my passport. A week later, he still had not gotten
round to it, so I reacted like a woman…I guilt tripped him….he stormed off, not
speaking as usual….
Compromise was, ‘I’ll
take you on Monday morning, ok’? ‘Yeah, fine, woreva’!
We left home
around 9am, got on the expressway, with me still trying to make him apologize
that it took so long and wondering if he was finally going to exchange me for
some good money at some Baba’s(babalawo) place off the express like I think he
should have long before now. Imagine my panic when right after this thought, he
pulls over to the shoulder of the road……
In one second, I
went through all of the moves I learnt during my short stint at judo in my
early days in UI & decided it would be futile against juju. Still, I asked,
‘why are we stopping’? He reached behind as he said ‘I need my sunglasses’
picked up a pair of sunglasses & attempted to move back onto the road. We
both looked up at a plume of dust, wondering what was going on and as we moved
closer, realised what just happened…….
I know very
little about how these things can be but my hubby thinks what happened is that
the bus blew a tire and the driver was unable to control the bus. It appeared
to have been coming from the other side, from Lagos, heading towards Ibadan. I
became frantic, shouting & asking what we could do. There was a woman
splayed on the road and my immediate worry was that she may have been alive and
another driver may crush her if they did not realise what had happened.
I sent a tweet
to the only traffic person I follow, IBcity_Traffic, asking for retweets to any
ambulance service who could help. There appeared to be several dead and 3men
hobbled away from the scene. I started to cry & could not stop. My husband
was shaken, I could tell, he kept saying, ‘what if I didn’t stop to put on my
sunglasses’? I had no answer as we continued the journey. I was severely
worried about getting help to the victims.
We encountered 2
more bad accidents during this trip and by the time we got to Lagos, my eyes
were swollen & my head throbbing. The final straw was a near mishap, just
ahead of us just after the Redemption camp. Again a tyre had burst on a saloon
car but the driver was very experienced and wrestled the car onto the shoulder
in another plume of dust. By this time, I was ready to be recruited to assassinate
those responsible for the state of that road.
It’s the one
factor that I think has claimed several lives on that stretch known as the
Lagos-Ibadan expressway, but sadly, it is NOT the only factor. The road is
B-A-D bad, very & in several bits, is exactly a death trap. The pain I felt
on the return leg of the journey when I saw the work Julius Berger had
accomplished in the 2 weeks since they were awarded the contract to fix the
road is unquantifiable. Those responsible for the delay in the work must NOT go
free and read my lips, if they do from human courts, God, righteous judge that
he is will ensure their punishment in a special hell.
Haven said that,
the road is not the ONLY factor responsible for the continual loss of lives on
that road. Sometimes, road users do wrong, speeding, taking unnecessary risks, and
feeling like Formula One drivers. That is sad as hell. Another group who will
have their part in the punishment for lives lost on this road are those who
should assess vehicle road worthiness but who for the few nairas that they just
have to take, look away and allow cars that should have become cubes of metal
to continue to deal in precious cargo, to the end that accidents happen &
pain ensues.
I know many
times when we look for examples of where things are done right, we look
overseas but I am grateful that even here in Nigeria, I know great examples all
around me, my husband, Mr Aiki-Raji and several others who will insist on tyres
being changed as at when due. There is nothing you can say to make my husband
not change all tyres when he needs to. Me, being Ijebu & all, I advocate
for the bad one or two to be changed & he will insist on all 5 being
changed. He will drive nothing above 100km/hr, no matter how swollen I get or
how many times I sigh & he will insist on the driver doing same.
As we travelled
that day, he showed me examples of those who zoomed past & who would be
unable to control their vehicle if anything untoward happened. I got a better
understanding of how difficult it must be to drive on the expressway (I am not
allowed to do it at ANY time). To his mind, I am ALWAYS an accident waiting to
happen and so putting me behind the wheel on the expressway is endangering
other lives……
I am sad because
even though accidents happen, we are not prepared as a people to handle them. I
thought about the fact that some victims may actually be saved if the right
services are available on our expressways. Ambulances, Fire engines and maybe
even search-and-rescue helicopters. But I guess that would suggest that we are
interested in doing the right thing.
I am further
saddened by the fact that some drivers feel a need to use mind-altering
substances in a bid to be ‘strong’ enough to face the rigours of driving. This
is the very antithesis of what is required for a driver.
While sharing
this horrid experience, a dear friend told of his recent experience of asking a
newly employed driver to bring his wife to an eatery to meet up with him so
they could have lunch and how when they finished and came out, met him having
one of those herb-based drinks reputed to confer super powers on those who take
them. He had been shocked and as if to calm his fears, this new and soon-to-be
ex driver had assured him that he had taken one that was water based as opposed
to the alcohol based ones. Needless to say, there and then, their new formed
relationship ended and I was glad.
I do not mean
this to be a treatise on what to do or not, but we all need to begin to police
ourselves a little better than we have done hitherto and get in the faces of
those who do not value our very valuable lives and insist that they do DO
something to stop this senseless (and brutal) waste of potential that occurs
every so often.
We only know
Bankole Taiwo by name of those who died recently, how many more do die without
any one being aware that they silently had an accident and veered off into a
bush or ditch somewhere?
I got a call from
my aunt this morning asking how I knew Bankole Taiwo…..I didn’t. I was even
unaware he had retweeted my tweet till this morning. My sadness grew
exponentially after we talked. If parents have to bury their children, it
should not be for preventable accidents on major highways……..
I had mourned my
frustration at being unable to do anything, today, for Bankole Taiwo & many
others whose names I do not know, I weep new tears and ask for justice in doing
right by prosecuting all who had a hand in the delay of fixing Lagos-Ibadan
expressway, legislation enforcement of roadworthiness, transport worker groups
policing their members on substance abuse and personal vigilance as we all use
cars with patience and due care as we remember that our very lives are
valuable, very very valuable…
Sad....very sad
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