Driving In Nigeria and  A ‘Lucky Escape’

Driving in Nigeria is rather different to most other Countries. I discovered that few driving regulations are ever obeyed and that you should never drive at night. There are two main reasons for this, firstly there are ‘bandits’ which frequently 'hijack' lorries and cars and secondly the roads are poorly maintained and its only in the day light one can see the huge gaping holes along the road. On occasions the holes would be so large and deep that to an unsuspecting driver , serious if not fatal damage would occur. These were the main reasons for the large numbers of vehicles we saw wrecked and left unattended by the roadside on the complete length of our 1500km trip ,Sam would often slow his mini bus down as we approached a succession of these holes, we never complained as we constantly reminded him of the dangers of speeding !

It was along a fast stretch of road about 50km from Lagos that an incident occurred which only Dave and Sam can accurately tell as the rest of us were asleep at that moment. Dave describes Sam driving in the fast lane of an empty motorway type road. Immediately ahead was another car on our side of the road also in the same lane. Dave asked Sam why this car was on our side of the road to which Sam replied ‘‘ There are holes in the road along the other side of this road so they come onto our side’’ Meanwhile the distance between our mini bus and the other car was closing fast.  Dave  suggests that Sam moves over ‘‘ But we have the right of way, its our side, he should move over not us!’’,declares Sam. Dave describes how both vehicles were on a head on collision with neither driver willing to back down and move over. As both vehicles approached the point of no return Sam ‘swerved’ the mini bus at the last desperate moment to avoid the collision.

I was thrown against the window as Viv, and Bryan picked themselves up from the mini bus floor. Dave screamed at Sam to stop the bus. We received the ‘blow’ by ‘blow’ account of our near miss from Dave and I spoke with Sam. He remained calm and politely said. ‘‘This is how you have to drive in Africa if you want to get to your destination, its quite normal’’  I requested that he drives slower and for our benefit drives with a little more caution. Sams' expression was one of surprise as to our strange request and I felt he took our comments personally as he is a professional driver in his own business. There were no further incidents to report but we had experienced a narrow escape where only Dave will live to repeat the scene in a future nightmare.

We arrived in Lagos and returned to the original guest house for the final night. I felt hot, tired and looking forward to leaving Lagos for the final time. From our discussions over a beer outside the guest house with all members of the team, it would appear we all felt the same. In fact there was a reluctance amongst us all ever to return here again! It was only after further analysis that it was our experiences within Lagos which were clouding our perception of Nigeria. However, this was a clear signal of the ‘fatigue’ which we were all suffering from.

                                                               The Press Conference

Our final  duty was to attend a press conference organized through a contact of Ken who worked for Tell Magazine. This took place within their head office in Lagos. About twelve representatives from Nigerian newspapers and magazines were present as I recalled the experience’s of our recent journey.
It soon became clear as I talked about the Emir of Bussa  together with the warm welcome we had experienced that few people if any present had ever been to this part of Nigeria. I again emphasized the good positive relationship we had developed with many people along our travels and hoped to build on this in two years time with a full expedition.
I thanked all those present for their time and support and looked forward to seeing them again in 2004.I never did ever see any article printed in connection with our trip!

                                                                      The Departure

Ken remained behind for a further week to spend some time with his family but he was adamant he accompanied us all to the airport. He suggested we arrive five hours prior to the departure time and we were later to discover why. Sam drove us to the airport and he appeared quite and sad, I had grown to like Sam despite the driving experience. In Ken’s absence he had felt responsible for the group and would give suitable advice in difficult situations. I often wonder how we would have coped without both Ken and Sam’s input during our time in Nigeria.

Upon our arrival in the car park at the airport I could see hundreds of people crowded together around the entrance to the main concourse. It looked as though the airport was under siege. As we carried our bags and pushed our way through we met a barrier together with an armed police officer. Ken explained who we are and produced our passports, we eased our way through but Sam was initially prevented but after further pleading he was permitted through.  I had never seen anything like this at any airport in the world. The calm and tranquility of the interior was a welcome sight as the air conditioning cooled us down. We checked in very easily and went for a well earned final lunch.

As we dined in an airport cafe I looked down through a pane of glass onto the concourse and could see the peace and calm change into chaos on the concourse floor. As the area filled with people  different queues formed into their respective places. This was probably no different to any other airport chaos but after our recent experiences it just seem so.

                                                                         
I said ‘good bye’ to Sam and felt he looked genuinely upset, I had given him the ‘coin trick’ he had enjoyed so much and acted as interpreter to so many children for me. He said that the trick would earn him a million dollars during the year. We said farewell to Ken and departed from Nigeria.

                                                                      Conclusion

This had been a difficult recee in many ways. We had discovered the unique cultural differences but had great success in the North. To be honest, a second recee next year would ideally be required to cover the Niger from New Bussa down to Port Harcourt. However,  time and funds will be the ultimate decider regarding that option.
I had learned many lessons in this trip and now understand Ken’s advice to keep an open mind. I would add to this the importance of not fighting the culture but to embrace it and journey with it. ‘Flexible’ and ‘Fluid’ was my catch phrase on this venture and one I feel which will apply again in 2004.
It took two months before a meeting took place between the team where a decision was taken to finally undertake the expedition in 2004.

I would like to personally thank Ken for his guidance and advice throughout this trip. His demeanor and sensitive nature was welcomed on many occasions and in many difficult situations. Without his presence we would not have met his many friends and relatives whom have left a good impression with us all. 

My thanks again to Dave, Viv and Bryan whom I have now become accustomed in sharing daring adventures on our most unusual journeys.