Eko oni baaje!!
Dedicated to everyone living in Lagos.
Lagos is one of the craziest, jaw-dropping, noisy, fast-paced places on earth. You will never be able to forget having a Lagos experience because the streets of Lagos always leaves a story to tell on everyone’s lips.
One good thing to know is, if you are not street smart then Lagos is not for you. The city will teach you out to be swift and smart and automatically develop wheels in your feet.
Ever wandered in the busy road of Oshodi, and just wondered if there is not a gentle person here. If are just entering Oshodi, mile 2 for the first time in your life maybe you have been so used to the East and North you might need to turn up your Adrenaline hormones antenna!!
Lagos bus stops are as busy as the bee, everyone is always on the move from the desperate hawkers who are so ready to push their carters of goods desperately through your car window, to the more desperate porters of mostly young guys who will pester you like a fly in your ear to carry your load for you even if it’s just a bag until you succumb. The drivers always have a way of finding all sort of one way/ corner to drive through, desperate to get to their destination to make up the sales of the day. Also, whenever you are about to alight a bus, it is not the time to be showing skills of a refined Classy woman oo
A lot of people just have somewhere to go, the bus stop is always brimming with people and you have to keep your ear on the ground. Now let’s talk about if you are a car owner in the city of Lagos. This is the most exasperating of it all, you can be in a 10 hours stand still traffic and you still have to get back to work the next early morning, your back will tell the work . There was a time i was in a bus going to ojoota i slept and woke up 1 hour later and we were still iñ the “go slow” . Journey of 30 minutes took 4 and half hours
And what if you are a trekker, you cannot stop for a second once you alight from your bus in the bus stop because just an hitch in front and behind your nose there’s someone desperate to move forward; a walker, potter, hawker name it every one pilling the road like soldier ants on a train. If you stop one second you will hear “oga kuro Lona fun mi (move out of the way for me)”. And that’s not all of the stress oo, you still have to dodge those obnoxious bike men and overbearing sellers that will put their goods and vehicles on the road where people are meant to pass and you just have to maneuver your way round them, Be careful not to tip away the carter of that pepper woman if not the story would not end here.
25 STREET SMART RULES: Lagos Edition
- Shout “Monwole o” when entering a public bus till you sit down. It means “I’m entering!!” which is important because bus drivers often impatiently start driving once a passenger enters the bus without waiting for him/her to sit.
- Shout out “Monbole o” when alighting from a public bus to alert the bus driver. It means “I’m coming down “.
- Don’t put your phone in your pocket in the streets of Lagos or in a public bus.
- Don’t pause on the road, else you get shouted at.
- Wake up as early as possible to start your journey to wherever it is you are going to. Eg; get to the road at least 3 hours before your appointed time because of Lagos traffic.
- Don’t argue with a bus conductor, you will never win.
- Stay alert at all times.
- Hold your change, small denominations when entering a public transport.
- Walk as fast as you can at bus stops because bus drivers drop passengers in a haste and you don’t want to get brushed.
- Listen attentively to the conductor calling out bus stops, if you miss yours, they may not agree to stop again till they get to the next one.
- Hold your bag/purse well.
- If the price for the bus fare is too high don’t think you can enter and persuade the conductor.
- Use Okada on trips that you can, to beat the goslow.
- Remind the bus conductor when it gets to a location you wish to drop.
- Walk cautiously in order to avoid bumping into the hawkers and roadside vendors.
- Drive with the ability to ignore all manner of road rages.
- Keep your phones or expensive items out of sight, especially in a traffic jam. If possible, wind your window up.
- Collect your item from the traffic hawker before paying.
- Don’t trust the average agbero.
- Breathe in, Breathe out.
- Don’t lose your sure plug.
- Don’t let your guard down.
- Hustle o
- Don’t ignore the traffic lights.
- You can sometimes give the boys some small money/tips.
Written by: TheBlessingGift
Co-written by: Goodness Felix-Adebayo
