O WA! - A relatable SHEGE story.
by Treasure Ughulu
So I’m definitely not hardcore hardcore, but I’ve had my share of the Lasgidi experience.
On this particular day, there was a logistics issue with my usual employee shuttle so I had to jump bus. No big deal, been there done that.
After the whole tussle with 20 others, I finally secured a spot at the back of a danfo.
The journey was journeying , until we were near my stop.
The little thing with me is that I’m extremely shy and I’d rather the grounds open up and swallow me before I mutter the words ‘o wa’ (a phrase used to signal the driver to stop at a busstop).
Usually, I’m lucky to have another person with the same stop say it for us, but that day, shege sat me down and said ‘I’ll deal with you’.
The shade of my bus stop was in sight, I kept looking at people’s faces but nobody was showing any signs of getting off the bus. That was when the panicking started. I tried to muster up the courage to say the words, but they were choked up in my throat like hot yam.
The driver gleefully sped past my bus stop with me almost crying at the back.
I decided, ‘Okay, maybe someone will get down at the next stop’. We approached that one as well, everyone in the bus remained mute.
I started to break a sweat despite the cool evening breeze hitting me from the speed of the bus.
3rd bus stop, 4th bus stop… nobody wanted to get down. We finally reached the last bus stop, and the conductor hit the side of the bus and was shouting ‘e bole, e bole’,(signaling for the passengers to get off the bus) so I followed them to bole.
I got down from the vehicle with tears almost streaming from my face at this point and decided to take another vehicle back home.
You would not believe it when I say I found not even 50 naira in my bag. Apparently I had been pickpocketed at some point while struggling for bus.
I took my gigantic L and started trekking back from Ayobo to Iyana-Ipaja. I would occasionally make eye contact with the drivers of cars passing by me, hoping they’d pity me and tell me to hop in, but nobody even send my papa.
Now? I’m the queen of ‘o wa ooo’, before them carry me go where I no know.