Eko Will Maybe Baje A Little Bit
Anytime I have to be in Lagos, I have mixed feelings. Dread, and then excitement, because I like to travel, and also because I get to see some of my friends.
The last time I wrote an article about the baje-ness of Ekó, I spoke about almost missing my flight due to an interesting decision, and also a very careless Bolt driver. This is another one of those stories, except this time, I didn’t book a 6 am flight, and I didn’t almost miss my flight, but it had its own hurdles.
Stay with me.
On the 4th of March, 2024, I am back home at Alexa’s after going to the market and seeing a few people on the mainland. I have a flight the next day at 10:30 am, so I have to be back home on time to pack my stuff, finish this series I just started watching, and properly rest until the next day. I am thinking, since my flight is by 10:30am, I can plan to leave the house by 8 am, so I am at the airport on time.
Kindly keep in mind that due to the experiences of the last time, I have decided to never use public transport to the airport again, no matter how much time I think I have, or how expensive a ride hailing app is. I never even think of it — okay, this is untrue, it crossed my mind a little bit, but can you blame me? Bolt prices in Lagos from the island to mainland would take you from Enugu to Owerri, and back.
My brothers and sisters, it was not so.
TELL ME WHY I AM TELLING ALEXA OF MY PLANS AND HER AND NKEM(Nkem is this awesome babe I met at Alexa’s house), ARE LAUGHING AT ME?
Alexa tells me to leave the house by 6am, and Nkem is telling me 5am sef. That third mainland bridge is closed, so movement is only allowed there for people coming from the mainland to the island by 12am — 12pm. People moving from the island to the mainland would have to go through Ikorodu road — these are obviously places I am unfamiliar with, but they matter in the grand scheme of things, so I take note of them.
Nkem kept mentioning how because it’s work hours and that the road is bad, I might experience traffic of close to three hours — this is probably also the best time to tell you all that since I have been in Lagos, the highest amount of traffic I have ever faced has been within or less than 30 mins. I can’t relate to the experience of Lagos having too much traffic.
You guys, I was so worried.
Anyway, the effect of that worry is that I woke up by 5 am the next day. I could barely sleep and kept waking up in between. I checked Bolt almost immediately after I woke up. I genuinely didn’t expect to find cabs available, but there were. I sha know there’s no way I would have left that house by 5am because I want to go to the airport. What if something happened to me?
Ha!
I finished everything I needed to do by 6. Alexa was already up, and Nkem was already texting her asking if I was ready. By 6 am, these babes! I think this is also another time to express my displeasure at the fact that people in Lagos wake up really early, and start their days as early too. It is so annoyinggggggggg.
I tried getting my first driver around that 6 am. The first person made me wait for 11–15 mins. After calling to confirm I was actually going, I check the map a few minutes later and see “Driver is arriving in 110 minutes”. I thought it was a glitch or something.
I showed Alexa my phone, so I would know if I was the one who did not understand what was happening. She tells me to call the driver. I called him and then he tells me that his passenger rerouted, that’s why the minutes increased. Ha, my God. It’s the fact that he didn’t even think to cancel that’s just annoying.
I cancel the ride, and try another person. Keep in mind that I am trying both Uber, and Bolt apps at the same time. Uber has been proving futile to get a driver this whole time.
The next driver I get, the app is showing me like 9,200–10,700 Naira. He calls me to ask where I am going to and tells me he is close. Then this man has the audumdancity to tell me I would “add something” for him as I know we won’t be going through the third mainland bridge. You guys, I was in shock.
Mostly because the only people I know to exhibit that kind of behaviour are drivers in Enugu, and God knows because of that reason, I don’t use ride hailing apps in the okpa and coke city.
I tell him I can’t, and then I cancel.
At this point, I have intensified my prayers to Yeshua, because He has to make things easy for me.
Ladies, gentlemen, and AI tools reading this story, I try Uber again and I find a driver. He calls to confirm I am going and then tells me he is on his way. At intervals, I worry a little that he might cancel in between.
He doesn't and comes within 7 minutes.
I hug Alexa goodbye, after running to her room to spritz her perfume. She screams not to use the “Zara”. I don’t even know which one it is. I am not a perfume girlie, but I can read, so I used the Victoria’s Secret one — it was the closest to my reach.
I take my bags downstairs, see the car, check the plate number, and put my bags in. The driver is soft-spoken and seems calm, and pleasant.
We start the trip, and he turns to start leaving.
A random person points to his tyre, it is flat.
— —
I am reminded of the time I was on that bridge close to Irawo that leads out of Ikorodu by 5 am.
I don’t know if I want to be upset or scream in anger. I am still in front of Alexa’s gate, so I am not scared. I also think about how to approach this, I am not in a position to get another Uber/Bolt quickly. It’d take time, and I am already outside. Plus, my past experience with being patient with a driver did not help.
Anyway, I pray about it and listen to my spirit. He has already checked it and decided to change the tyres. It was not *that* bad, but to be safe, and not stop in the middle of nowhere, he changed it. Thankfully, he has a spare.
A few minutes later, we are on our way. He apologises for the hiccup. I accept the apology. It is not like he was his fault anyway.
He plays highlife Christian music. I like highlife.
It is a quiet ride, except that we pass a dead body a little after Civic Towers.
I take note of Civic Towers, because recently I picked up an interest in Deloitte, and now anytime I pass there I notice the building. It is one of the Big 4’s, and it’d be great to work there someday, if I eventually become a finance girlie — side note: I am getting an MBA.
The interesting thing is that I do not face any real traffic on my way, and I reach the airport within an hour. The driver is kind enough to make sure I stop at the correct terminal, and I even tip him a little bit. He wishes me a safe flight, and I am on my way.
If you know how incensed I felt about waking up as early as I did eh. Alexa’s defence is that if I hadn’t gone at the time I did, the price might have been higher, and I’d have faced more traffic as more people would be going to work. Nkem said to sit at the terminal and make friends.
There was no one within sitting distance, aside from the two flight attendants who came to meet me. One of them came to ask that I “do something for the boys”. I told him I didn't have cash, and he told me I could do a transfer, God abeg.
Then the second one who came a little later, asked if we “could be friends”, and if I’d give him my number. I declined to be honest, but one day we’d talk about the fear that comes from refusing to give your number to men who ask for it. I hope nobody beats me one day because of it.
Anyway, aside from having to wait an hour plus before boarding, my flight was smooth, and I had a pretty cool seatmate on my flight.
I never thought the day would come, but these days I am finding myself hating Lagos a little less, and having respect for the city.
It is unprecedented.
I know I don’t like the city a lot, and most times I genuinely want to get in, do a few things and get out, but for the sake of the people I care about who stay there, and the fact that I might be growing a little love for the city, I hope Ekó only bajés a little bit.
Nevertheless, “ija wà, ija osí, always guiding”.
Glossary:
- Audumdancity: A fancy way to say Audacity.
