The Day I Saw a Bus Driver Burning

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.

By this time inside and outside the bus, people were talking of the driver and his strange method. In the bus, many were smiling; some were shaking their heads, while the others were fanning themselves with their palms and heavy notebooks trying to calm down from the exertion of running to the bus.
The bus was packed. A number of students were even standing in the bus, for want of sitting space.
The driver smiled all the way to the driver’s seat, started the bus and drove off.

I learnt something that day. Enthusiasm is contagious. It is a fire. It holds the attention. It is what makes people buy what they don’t need to need to buy, from salesmen. It is what can make the difference between a great presentation and a boring one. It is that thing some of our teachers in early school effused which made us decide on a particular career path. It is what can make a prospective client choose you or dump you. It is magic. A person, who has it, under control, is generally welcome in any group of people.
Not surprisingly, enthusiasm is derived from the Greek phrase “En Theos”, which means “The god within.”
I never saw the driver pull that stunt again, but about a year later, I saw him wearing a suit and shining black shoes. He had gotten a better paying job as the official driver of the Students’ Union Government. And I believe he will get a yet better job.
It started with enthusiasm.

I believe enthusiasm begins with strong belief in an idea. It’s only when you believe in something strongly enough that you can make others believe in it and get committed to it. This sort of belief naturally translates into enthusiasm. It shows in your facial expression, voice inflection and even in the way you walk. It infects people and gets them on your side much easier.
But know this: Enthusiasm is not a light switch you can turn on in a snap. It’s a seed. It grows gradually. Emerson wrote: “A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in some sort becoming a tree; or draw a child by studying the outlines of his form merely, but, by watching for a time his motion and plays, the painter enters his nature, and then can draw him at will in every attitude. So Roos 'entered into the inmost nature of his sheep.' I knew a draughtsman employed in a public survey, who found that he could not sketch the rocks until their geological structure was first explained to him." That’s how you get enthusiastic.
Do you want to be convincing at a presentation? Immerse yourself in the subject matter. Find reasons in yourself to believe it – not mentally, but emotionally. And then find more reasons. Your aim is to find information and make it speak through your voice. Make sure you completely agree with what you want to say. And people will listen to your words.
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Uchendu is a Speaker, Entrepreneur and Writer, who loves teaching young people. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
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