Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Just Before A Lagos Commuter Bus Plunges Into The Lagoon By Lekan Fatodu
By Lekan Fatodu
Less than two weeks ago Nigerians were gripped with the chilling gossip that one of the mass transit buses, popularly known as BRT, operated by Lagos State Government, had plunged into the Lagos Lagoon; and as a result, all passengers on board had perished in the water.
It was at the height of the increasing permeation of the unfortunate tale which had gone crazy on social media and in some mainstream news outlets that the Federal Road Safety Commission, on whose Twitter handle information about the accident was served to the public, claimed that its Twitter account had been compromised by surly hackers which used its twitter account to distract the public peace by posting the frightening rumour by twitter.
Similarly, Lagos State, through its emergency service, also stepped forward to allay the fears of Lagosians and confirmed that the report was a false alarm; that no BRT bus fell into the Lagos lagoon.
To me, having travelled across many places in the country in recent times and witnessed, first-hand, the recklessness on the side of the government as well as everyday Nigerians; and also marveled by some Nigerian's callous approach to fellow humans, I have never doubted the possibility of a bus falling directly into the lagoon or swerving into someone else's bedroom by highly careless reasons.
I was in the gathering of some friends when news of the bus broke I immediately expressed my disgust and said "that would be so sad; maybe the driver was under the influence of alcohol or he is driving a vehicle whose brake pedal is almost completely gone." Opinions were divided amongst my friends: some said the description I gave was that of Nigeria, or Lagos, I left many years ago while a few of them thought I was right that the government should do more to curb the misconduct of the commercial motorists, either government-managed or privately-run.
Shockingly, last week Friday, 30th November 2012, just four days after the rumour of bus crash that rented the air, two of my friends and I (those who thought my opinion on the motorists was antiquated) were on our way to the Island from Gbagada. As we got on the newly repaired part of the Third Mainland Bridge, right on the Lagos Lagoon, just few metres away from the section of the bridge that overlooks University of Lagos Lagoon Front, my friend hit me by the shoulder and screamed, "Lekan, Lekan see the tyre of the commuter vehicle driving by our side."
What we saw was just unbelievable. It was a white-painted commercial vehicle, TATA bus, (not BRT) with Lagos number plate XZ 353-GGE. The bus was filled with at least 50 commuters with some standing. The vehicle was doing at least 70 mph, and its driver was driving with one hand on the steering while using the other hand to hold a bottle of what looks like an alcoholic beverage at 10:45 in the morning!
And wait for the final shock, the death-loving driver had two empty plastic bottles of soda drinks (one of Lacasera and possibly Feyrouz) stuck on the vehicle rims to fasten two of the screws to the tyre on the driver's side! With this instance, and if it continues unabated, it is just a matter of time before many buses will start plunging into the Lagos lagoon. Yes, God forbid as we are used to say; but am sure God would also require us to have some preventive measures.
This is no-brainer, any responsible government can nip this dreadful occurrence in the bud to avoid an inevitable calamity in the country, and it is even much cheaper to create a solid structure, with the millions of mobile technology tools in people's hands nowadays, to encourage the public to report such situations that threaten their lives and peace to the appropriate authority in Lagos.
I am sure that with the detailed information provided of the dare-devil commercial bus exploit and photographs taken, it should help the Lagos state transportation authorities to track the bus operator down in Lagos, appropriate measures should be taken to serve as a deterrent to other ruthless drivers - both commercial and private – and to press home a point that the public is keeping a close watch on them now.
On Twitter @LekanFatodu
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No Surprise but...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 13, 2012 - 11:11.
Honestly i am not really surprised about this incident because i have witnessed worst madness like this in Nigeria, Lagos in particular. am sure people will be shocked to imagine that an Okada is trying to pull a bus that stopped working on that same 3rd mainland bridge. I saw it myself, so no surprise to me. But i think if we start making noise about these things and showing pictures maybe, i mean maybe, all this madness can reduce a bit. By the way, this writer get heart o which is good; am sorry, for me I will just overlook because the driver could be one of the untouchable area-boys of a top politician in the state. So I won't even be bothered but just pray for the passengers as we've been praying to God to save us from our bad leaders.
BIZARRE!!!!
Submitted by Chinwe (not verified) on December 13, 2012 - 11:02.
This is bizarre to say the least, many Nigerians are as crazy as their leaders! For a common man like the driver can take fellow 'commoners' on a potential journey of no return like this? Very wicked. I pray the driver will be arrested to explain the reason for his action, taken to psychiatric home and finally to jail! That's my judgement.
Yeah, Prevention makes life safe!!!!
Submitted by Roland (not verified) on December 13, 2012 - 10:54.
Hello Lekan, thanks for sending this message out, it's very important and meaningful. I tell you I have seen more of this recklessness on the part of many drivers in Nigeria, even the ostensibly sensible private drivers, so am not really surprised. I think one vital aspect of this article is that the issue is being made public maybe that will force more citizens to start reporting incidents like such and the government, by THE GRACE OF GOD, can step up action to prevent and minimize distaters on our roads
Haba, Lekan!!! This is a suggestive posting!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 12, 2012 - 14:32.
The picture you try to paint here is to say the least exagerative!!! The bottles you mentioned being used as screw to hold the tire are just inserted onto the end the bolt by pranksters just to create a funny outlook, there are so many of such all over Lagos if you move around often you would have seen them. For a bus to do 70MPH (abt120KmPH) is to say the least suggestive and exagerative!!!
WHATs YOUR POINT?
Submitted by hammerhouseofhorror (not verified) on December 12, 2012 - 07:24.
SO WHAT IS YOUR POINT? OR ARE YOU IN ONE WAY OR THE OTHER CONNECTED TO THE OWNERSHIP OF THIS "ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN BUS"?
THE OWNER MUST BE SANCTIONED FOR PUTTING THOSE LIVES AT RISK, PERIOD.
Shine ur eyes
Submitted by Mobola (not verified) on December 11, 2012 - 17:07.
@Anonymous, you really need to shine your eyes and read the article again with your two eyes open. The writer did not say gov should be doing the checking;it says they should create a reliable platform that will enable and encourage citizens to send reports like the one he captured with his friends (or are they gov officials?) for appropriate gov agencies to take it from there, which is a fantastic thought. And who told u the empty bottles couldn't do the fasten? Be wise, maybe you've never experienced the mad ingenuity of many Nigerians. After all the pictures were taken on 3rd mainland bridge & obviously on motion @Kako-KUMO you didn't see any reasonable thing to say about the article than your warped correction on Screw, bolts & nuts, I pity my fellow Nigerians and Nigeria. You also went on to tell the history of TATA bus; is your father a partner to the indian TATA bus importers?
It's a failed state
Submitted by Abdul (not verified) on December 11, 2012 - 16:55.
Mr Lekan well done for the write-up. Similar unfortunate developments in Nigeria such as the one you just finely narrated on the wicked commercial driver are indications of the condition of a failed state. So Nigeria as a failed state, there's no doubt about that fact. As you tacitly admonished I hope government can encourage citizens to take responsibilities of reporting dangerous incidents ike that by creating a reliable structure that will help apprehend and punish criminal like the driver.
Thanks lekan for the write
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 11, 2012 - 08:02.
Thanks lekan for the write up.but in as much as i want to believe what you saw i wish to bring to your notice the fact that it is practically impossible to use a bottle to hold the screw of a truck like that and the truck would still be going on the road without the wheel flying off.also what exactly do you suggest the government do to stop this.To start going round the motor parks and start checking whether the trucks tyre are fasten properly.common, everything does not have to start and end with the government.the citizen have responsibilities too you know.
Just a correction
Submitted by kako-KUMO (not verified) on December 10, 2012 - 15:55.
MR. Lekan, the cortect word for the tyre fastener of a vehicle like that is not screw. Bolts and nuts are used. FYI: TATA trucks are made in India, and I think there are varieties of them, from cheap-simple, to luxury versions. Also there should be plenty spare-parts available in the country.
