It was a bright afternoon at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO). Students were filing out of their classes in pairs, and moving towards their hostels in different directions. Some were on foot, others were boarding motor bikes (“Okada” in local parlance), while the rest were boarding buses to Owerri town. I also intended to board a bus to Owerri town.
FUTO has a bus park, which then was simply a piece of land covered with red sand and little rocks with no defined boundaries. There were two parts of the bus park then. One part contained the 14 or 18-seater buses (“Danfo” buses in local parlance), many of which badly needed body work and the other part contained the Imo Transport Company (ITC) buses, which were usually larger, cheaper and in worse form than the former. Students usually preferred the Danfo buses because they got filled very quickly and so saved time, even though they were N20 or N30 more expensive than the ITC buses. (ITC buses charged N40, while Danfo buses charged N60 or N70)
As I walked towards the bus park, I began hearing a male voice in a frenzied shout.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
I got closer and saw that it was a driver of one of the really large ITC buses, which usually get filled during the time it would take 3 or 4 Danfo buses to fill up and leave. He was a short round man, pacing about and punching the air like he was delivering an oration, wearing a black trouser and a faded green knee-length Kaftan (local Nigerian dress) which was wet from his intense sweating.
He kept shouting.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
At this time, there were about 5 people in his 33-seater bus.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
Well, none of the other students and drivers had seen such a thing before, so we all watched the spectacle before us.
I was already sitting in a Danfo bus that was gradually getting filled, but all the bus occupants were staring at the shouting driver.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
Other students, who were just walking into the bus park intending to enter the Danfo buses, stopped for a moment and stared at the man.
Just then, one of them walked towards his bus and climbed in. His friend looked at the loading Danfo bus in which I was sitting and back at the ITC bus. In about two seconds, he made his decision and joined the ITC bus with his friend.
Some of the yet standing students still stared at the man. We all knew what he wanted, and we knew it had never happened before. He wanted his 33-seater ITC bus to get filled before a 14-seater Danfo! We just wondered if he could pull it off.
“40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ...... 40! - 40! ......”
More of the standing onlookers climbed into his bus.
At this point, I was in the early stage of temptation. Should I sit in this Danfo bus and watch this burning bus driver fill his bus and leave? I needed to get to the bank, and I knew it would be closed if I wasn’t there early.
This was until two people left my bus and joined his bus. It took me less than 5 seconds to get out of my bus. As I walked towards the driver’s bus, I saw some other students who also wanted to enter the same bus break into a run. I wasted no time in breaking into mine. When I entered and looked around, there were 3 or 4 seats left. I quickly took one.
