Olusegun Ariyo
Faces&Culture with Olusegun Ariyo>email:olusegunariyo@urbanexpresslive.com Phone 08023936827
Evening has fallen in the street of Lagos; indeed, it was time when every employee, artisans in all work of life has to start returning home from their various places of origin. Indeed, happy hours for some has evolved, while it is usually a sad one for others since our mode of movement is indeed on road and the means of transport that majority of the population uses as channel still remains commercial vehicular movements.
Everyone is looking forward in getting on board through various routes that are in-existence in every terminal in-demand, in other to get to their various destinations. Experiences as to the way things are done in most unusual manner by those operators of commercial vehicles that majority of them the populace ply during peak period and where you don’t even know any agency to lay complains to when the needs of such arise, instead, some of those dying cultures is being allowed to be celebrated without any body questioning whatever is their sense of judgment in maintenance and vehicle worthiness in the cause of their movement from one location to the other is truly one out of many obstacle we are yet to cross in the things should be done appropriately..
The understanding and perception about some handlers of commercial vehicle that moves within our metropolis who never think of the healthiness and condition of what is the signs their vehicle is showing before embarking on any journey’’, is there need for it to be handled before it get out of hand, knowing fully well that passengers boarding during that peak period would have being so tired and could not wait a bit, getting home without any hindrance, more essentially being able to do the needful before dark in the night are not disappointed, hence evening has fallen,’ after weighing the extra-ordinaries that befall the mode and means at which our transportation management swings in ,and the manner with-which some driver’s non challant attitude is, towards managing its mechanism and ensuring that standard remains an up-hill task to them and the passengers , and also where it becomes more problematic to so many passengers on board, and to those who are willing to get on the move, fundamentally.
some of those vehicle are supposed to be off the roads due to the fact that some are out rightly old and could not stand the taste of time any more, while in some cases, some develop mechanical fault persistently with the know of the driver just because of their greed to part away with some amount of what the vehicle has being able to produce as a result of going commercial with it , and for another reason of being selfish and ignorant at the detriment of its passengers, unfortunately, they the [drivers] defile all warning signals the vehicle must have been given, and ride on it in that escalating situation with the believe that it could be managed to its destination from there origin. This and some other hocus –pocus like ‘’ oga, make I manage am now, I go, go repair am immediately I finish dropping you, I beg, I beg understand with me’ are indeed the challenges of change in perception that is still of essence from many of the drivers plighing our metropolis.
This trend usually thrives in different segments of our lives as we move from one origin to another destination. One thing that struck my understanding anytime on board when in one of these modes of transportation essentially, the commercial means in the metropolis, is the way the perception of those in the stirring thinks when the demand for standard is abound. Typical of any motorbike mode is how to get a passenger from one origin to destination.
Ordinarily, every means of transport with commercial outlook should be of standard when ever the needs arises to service its mechanism, put in place good shape of tires, its road worthiness standard with the rest of the infrastructure that keeps the mechanism in smooth motion at every pace demanded. But then, in some occasions reverse is usually the case, you will see some motor bikes having their tire dancing in an unusual manner, is either the sproca chain is faulty or the tires are where- off, and could be dangerous.
Most occasions the operator is fully aware, but because they are good at the word ‘’oga make we manage am, they tend to want to risk it in that situation. My personal capacity, in the cause of accessing one mode of commercial transport, I find out that many of these vehicular movements are like death traps.
Physical observation alone, gives very bad impression not to discuss when having an experience on board with such vehicle. Typical commercial vehicles like [danfo] has is being called on our road is few out of many that can be removed from such controversies, but has on the high side, those identified with these challenges.
A Phenomenon that thrives in, not only road transport mode, but Air, and rail counterparts as a result of the overbearing attitudes of some drivers, the management or owners. it was realized that our drivers truly need the moral equivalent of collective counseling of a mind that had been suffused and suffocated through their thinking when defacing the thought of maintaining their vehicle if needs arise, which off-course should be a regular thing.
The drivers are always far too eager in making money, and in a hurry, they ignore the need to examine and evaluate the stage of maintaining their vehicle, which depleting effects usually fails on passengers. The drivers also fail to realize how important is their relationship with passengers since they the passengers are those who patronize them on a daily basis and did not fully understand the importance and the dire consequence of ill maintainace of daily moving vehicle that falls under this circumstance. In these wise, both the operators and the passengers share the agony. I remembered coming in from yaba route to connect to Iyana ipaja, I entered commercial vehicle plying that route.
it was hell on earth when all-of a –sudden, the vehicle developed fault, and the passengers new how non-challant those drivers could be when the need for maintenance arises in servicing their vehicle periodically as it supposed to be the culture, and is not in that circumstances. Those passengers alight from the vehicle, yelling, some are negotiating how much the bus conductor could give to them since they have gone half way, almost reaching their destination whilst some are not even close, some are willing to meet with appointment and as well, look for alternative means of transport that could get them to their place of destination, for them to meet with appointment in good time remains a big question calling for answer. All said. Expectedly, the phenomenon became what seems not boarding the driver other than the money involved which he knew he was at the verge of losing.
The predicament of the passengers lamenting is of no importance to the operator, the periodic maintainace that is required of him to implement is of no significance, instead the money involved. But then, the painful truth here is that the mechanism would have been given signs before it eventually parked off on that faithful day, where their usually pattern has failed unabated.
Part of the reason we missed the boat here is that we never stopped to examine the logic or illogicality of our doings in the way we handle thing, more especially something that affect our lives and the way we plan them, the belief system of a class of people who were not often the brightest and the best commercial drivers the nation produced and who were not really knowledgeable to subject their thinking and thoughts to positive judgment of how of essence should maintenance of commercial vehicle be to them.. When you put all these patterns of events together, one get the impression that our drivers may not have a good understanding of how these things should be done. Our system of governance should put these into cognizance in the area of training and re-training them as a matter of necessity in their various driving schools.
prime example of the failures of drivers when it comes to maintainace where-with, escalates into lot of controversy was about the lingering challenges it poses ahead as we move on with life. Indeed, foist a new ways of life on the general population, many of whom were already set in their ways, in the end, checks and balance is expected to entrenched through self-judgment by those operators in ensuring that their vehicle is worthy, perhaps new Nigerian person might have emerged through self-introspection, and with him a new character, discipline and ethos
