It happened one Tuesday evening as I was driving home amid normal traffic on Eko bridge. For some reason, I wasn’t upset by the congestion that day despite my tired state, and in fact, I was all chatty with my colleagues who were in the car with me, until I noticed a little commotion ahead of us.
Driving slowly past the scene, all I could see was a truck and a salon car parked, with two men and a woman arguing- the driver of the salon car, I perceived to be the woman. Somehow, I felt the lady was being intimidated, so I decided to put on my detective cloak *cues in Sherlock Holmes soundtrack*.
Without a second thought, I immediately parked, excused myself from the car, determined to help resolve the issue. Getting to the scene, I could tell that the truck had scratched the lady’s car and couldn’t fathom why the truck drivers prevented her from driving off in her car. So, I moved closer to the truck drivers (the men) and questioned them. They admitted to scratching her car and added that the lady came down to retaliate by banging on their windshield which resulted in a crack.
There are two sides to a story, right? Of course, I turned to listen to the woman. She confessed to touching the windscreen but claimed that she did so lightly and it could not have led to any crack. Wow! What a difficult situation!
By the time the woman had fully narrated her story, another kind Samaritan: a guy, had also parked his car to join us in resolving the issue. Then, we started pleading with the truck drivers on the woman’s behalf. After about 3 mins of begging and a series of loud horns blaring at us for causing more traffic on the bridge, the truck drivers eventually bulged and let the woman go scot-free.
Thinking back to that scene makes me smile why? Because I can say that I took a risk to be selfless. Many drivers in Lagos know that it is quite risky to stop on a bridge prone to area boys especially if met with a chaotic situation. Such commotion could be staged to deceive well-meaning Nigerians and rob them- that’s like Driving in Lagos 101. Glad that this was not the case on that day.
One thing about me is I can’t stand being cheated or the sight of another person treated unfairly. This was most-certainly what motivated me to intervene that Tuesday night, despite what was at stake.
So, whenever I remember that day, I am glad I allowed the ‘crazy’ Tosin to take charge.
That’s actually brave!