I know, I know, as someone who is more than aware of the level of ignorance about Africa from many Americans, I probably shouldn't make a statement like "Its a Jungle out there" But this expression describes a bit of what I experienced in Nigeria.
Like I have stated in previous posts, I had not been to Nigeria in 9 years. This may not seem like a lot to many people, but let me qualify this for you. When I got to the U.S. I went to the 8th grade. I now have a college degree. In those very formative years of my life, I have gotten very acclimatized to a certain way of living. This post is not meant to make Nigeria sound like an awful place to live. BUT unwittingly, I will communicate the truth, which is Driving in Lagos is PURE MADNESS. It is as though there is a silent Battle between the
Okadas (commercial motorcycles).
Danfo drivers,
Keke Marwa
(newest addition since I left)
BRT Buses
and the Privately owned vehicles.
These different modes of transportation fight for control of the road so, whereas traffic here in Houston TX looks more like this
Notice the rows of cars all facing the same direction..............?
Compare to Lagos Traffic where
(I wish I had been able to actually take these photos, thanks Google) Because I dont think this picture of the traffic in lagos accurately captures what it looked like and felt like. To me, it just felt like everywhere you turn a car or motorcycle woudl bust out. I mean, on my ride to the house from the airport we got hit by a motorcycle driver and he knocked off the drivers side rearview mirror. CAN YOU IMAGINE MY HORROR. First day back after 9 years, If I were behind the wheel, I would have had to fight the desire to U-TURN to the airport.
Like many developing countries, the gap between the rich and poor is very wide, and I think the traffic situation is a great equalizer of people. The extremely weathly still have to get from one place to another and when they are on these roads they share with everyone else, they all suffer the same frequent dents on their cars and AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL roads.
