#Lagos and nuisance of Danfo drivers

IT was such a horrendous scene that I couldn’t get over for some time. I left home for work that fateful day, looking forward to an eventful day. But alas, the whole of the day was messed up by the wayward action of a naughty ‘danfo’ (commercial bus) driver. We were caught in the typical Lagos early morning traffic gridlock which wasn’t really as bad as it used to be because it was a moving traffic.
My mind was not actually on the traffic situation as I had an urgent task to accomplish that auspicious morning. As I thought about how I would carry out the pressing assignment, I looked up and behold there was  this  ‘Danfo’ bus that had moved completely out of our line and had faced on coming vehicles in what I considered a very audacious display of lawlessness and haughtiness.
He drove in such reckless fashion that every oncoming vehicle had to delicately swerve to avoid a collision with it.
Sadly, a heavy duty lorry which, perhaps, was oblivious of the stray ‘danfo’, was approaching and within a twinkling of an eye, there was a collision between the lorry and the ‘danfo’ and what followed is better seen than imagined.

It was such a horrible scene. By now, the whole place was in serious disarray as commuters, pedestrians and other road users ran helter-skelter in utter confusion. Thanks to some brave guys who put a call through to the Lagos State Ambulance Service, ambulance came in no time to ferry wounded commuters in the ‘danfo’ for emergency medical care. The whole place had become a mess of sort. The goods in the heavy duty lorry littered everywhere.
The hitherto moving gridlock had now become completely motionless with serious overriding impact on adjourning and other link roads along the route. It took the combine efforts of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA,  
Federal Road Safety officials, traffic police and others to put the traffic situation back to normality. By now, I have spent about four hours on an otherwise 30 minutes trip. In Lagos, danfo drivers are notorious for contravening traffic laws.

They flout traffic rules with impunity by driving against traffic, carrying excess passengers, picking passengers at un-designated places, over -speeding among many others. They act in such unruly manner that makes them Lords in their own right. In Lagos, impunity is a way of life for the ‘danfo’ driver.
Though, the traditional Lagos traffic jam occurs as a result of many factors, it is, however, aggravated by human induced actions such as reckless driving, illegal parking, street and roadside trading, ‘beating’  traffic lights among other traffic instructions.  Often, failure of motorists, to obey traffic rules and regulations lead to crippling traffic snarls.
Sadly, traffic chaos lead to economic losses arising from delays, diminished productivity, wasted energy, environmental degradation, a diminished standard of living, missed appointments, higher fuel bill, and diverse health challenges. This, no doubt, poses great threat to the State’s viability as a decent place to live, visit and invest in.

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