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Platoon Two, Ep 3
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PLATOON TWO
Last Episode
When we entered the airport, our tickets were checked and we passed the necessary check points we needed to pass. We waited for 20 minutes at the Baggage Claim Section. When my bag came out, I picked it and we were on our way out in no time.
It was a brief walk from the arrival to the car park. Mrs Williams’ Car was a brand new Kia Sportage (2005 Model). It was metallic gray colour and the latest in that year. I looked at the car with admiration, the driver collected our bags and put it in the boot.
There was a long traffic from the airport gate to the main road. Mrs Williams told me traffic was a common feature with Lagos especially during work days in the mornings and evenings. It did not matter to me how long the traffic would take. I was in Lagos, that was first the most important thing to me and the second was that I was enjoying the atmosphere in her car.
For full story of episode 2, please click 'Back to topics' at the top right hand corner of the page. Thank You.
Episode 3
After an hour, in what it seemed to be like go slow, we arrived at Ikeja Bus Garage at 10:30am to be precise. I was overwhelmed with excitement. Once again, I had act organised physically.
“Iyana paja, Abule egba, Sango, Ifo!” A dark complexioned guy called from a distance. These are names of the destinations of the buses at the garage. He wore a shirt that was supposed to be white but was already brown most probably because of dust and sweat on a pair of green trousers. The white shirt had a touch of green at the tip of the left breast pocket and the collar . His voice was husky.
“Iyana paja, Abule egba, Sango Ifo!” He called again. Mrs Williams got down from the car and walked with me to get the right bus.
“Ha, Mama, e ti dun ju, nibo le n nlo?” He said to Mrs Williams appreciating her beauty in “tout” language. Then he faced me “Omo ele, na your mama be this where you dey go?” He asked for my destination.
‘Omo ele’ is a slang in yoruba language, the western part of Nigeria. It is popularly used among garage boys to acknowledge a beautiful lady. Mrs Williams answered him that I was going to the NYSC Camp. She further explained that I was new in Lagos and we would need his favour to show me where the Lagos Camp was located.
“Otondo lo mo! Omo ele to badht, se wa femi? ” He asked if I would marry him. I acted like I did not understand him. “O ya follow me, eis! who dey dia? Come call customer for me abeg” He beckoned on one of his colleagues to stand in for him and call for passengers while he showed us the way. Otondo is a nick name used for corp members. There is no particular meaning to it. The agbero (Garage tout), took us to Iyanapaja bus and told the driver to drop me at Iyanapaja Bus stop.
The Bus was half full with young boys and girls like myself. From the way they looked and dressed, they seemed to be heading to the same destination as I was. The driver beckoned to his conductor and the conductor collected my bags and kept them in the boot.
“Iyana paja, Abule egba, Sango, Ifo, two more shance!” The conductor shouted. I moved to the front seat and sat in front just beside the driver. The seat was long enough to occupy two people. Within seconds I got into the bus, the bus was full and the last person joined me in front. The conductor went round to collect the money.
“How much?” I asked.
“N100, abeg I no get change o. N500, N1000, I no get change.” He responded stating that he had no change. I gave him N200 and he gave me N100 change.
While the conductor collected the fare, the driver called a vulcaniser to gauge his tyres. The driver also brought out a yellow 5 litres keg of water from under his seat and poured the water into the bus radiator. It was a yellow bus with two black stripes drawn across it. It is popularly called Danfo in Lagos as I was informed by Mrs. Williams. After the whole “ceremony” was done, they both entered the bus, closed the door and at exactly 12 noon, we were set to leave for Iyanapaja.
... to be continued
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