Traffic in Lagos: A Story To Tell

When there is traffic in a part of Lagos, the whole state usually suffers. It was this type of traffic that happened in the state on the 23rd of October.

Before you ask why this deserves your attention, here are some things you need to know about Lagos traffic and that of yesterday.

Time of occurrence

Usually, if you live in Lagos, traffic progress into its realm say by 6 pm. However, yesterday was new. It was yet to be 5 pm when all you had to do was look at and get scared. The only lucky ones were those who probably lived close to their working place or who somehow was close to home at that point for walking was the one thing you could do for yourself. Well, you won’t entirely call them lucky when they had to drive through the road in their walks with all sorts of vehicle, from private cars to uber and taxify riders, to the yellow big commercial bus and big trucks, to yellow small buses and Keke Napep, to Okada riders and cyclists. Yes, cyclists! And when you think about it, that should be the only legally approved government means of transportation in Lagos.

Numbers of truck drivers

For some reason, the number of trucks on the road yesterday was scary. Because the fear of their breaking down and doubling the traffic is as real as their constant cause traffic. It, therefore, was not farfetched to think there must be a break down somewhere, however, the location of the incident was never certain.

Increase in cost of transportation

It is a thing in Lagos for drivers to increase the transport fare whenever there is traffic or when it rains. For it somehow it is a means of making more money with the cost of transport tripling over its initial price, especially with Okada riders. With this thought, imagine how yesterday would have been.

Spiritual attribution

The belief and attribution of happenings to spiritual forces are real, though not acknowledged by all. Traffic and its cause are not excluded. Trust that with the kind of traffic experienced yesterday, the thought that it was spiritual related did pop up at some point. To what ends, is still not certain either.
Lagos is a beautiful place with lots of stories waiting to be experienced and told, traffic inclusive. You will agree with me on that one.