It was on Saturday, 12th November 2022. I woke up around 7:00 am normally, said my prayer, and prepared to go out for preaching. Oh!! I have a hangout to attend in Ikeja by 10:00 am. That’s so early, I said to myself. Well, I’ll still spend 2 hours preaching before going for the hangout. That is precisely what I did.
It’s 11:00 already, Let me get going for the hangout.
I dressed up alongside my brother as we embarked on the journey, It wasn’t an easy one.
Lagos city is well known for its traffic congestion and Saturday wasn’t exceptional. It took us exactly 2 hours (The exact same time it takes from Aba, Abia State to Enugu State) to get to the hangout venue, JJT Park.
JJT Park is located in Ikeja, which is the capital of Lagos State. It is directly opposite the Lagos State House of Assembly. The park was built as a collective effort of 3 former Governors of Lagos State, Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson, the first governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakanda, who ruled from October 1979 to December 1983, and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who governed Lagos state from May 1999 to May 2007. Their last names were used for the park, Johnson Jakanda Tinubu (JJT) Park
The park is really a very big and fun place to be. Anyone in Lagos state should really get to visit this park if they have not done so.
The hangout was organized by a group of modest young ones, so everyone was dressed in an orderly way. Unfortunately, I arrived late so I couldn’t catch up with all the activities. They played games and did other fun activities that I missed.
Not quite long after I arrived, we were served lunch of delicious Spaghetti and meat which we all enjoyed without hesitation. After that, I walked around the park while I took the pictures I used to in this phone with my Redmi Note 11 device.
After that, there was a group picture and everyone set out to their respective destinations. I must say I had my worst experience on a public transport vehicle that day. For another 2 hours, we were stuck in the traffic. Finally, when we got to the Ikorodu, Garage, there was no taxi so, thousands of people were standing stranded on the roadside as they await any vehicle.
With New friends from the hangout
Therefore, since there were about 6 of us, we decided to trek small hoping to see any vehicle along the road. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any. We trekked for more than an hour when my Brother called his friend that has a tricycle to come and pick us up at a bus stop near his house.
He was very far away, so we waited for him. On arriving, we entered and he took all of us to our various bus stops.
Immediately we came down from his machine, the rain began and there was no other motorcycle on the way, so we began our journey again, this time under the rain until we got home around 9 pm.
Thankfully, the rain didn’t spoil our phones. On getting home, we had to launder our clothes since it was white. I did this without delay, took my bath, and went to sleep.
Conclusion
That day was my first day of going inside Lagos without a BRT Bus. It was my firsthand experience of Lagos State traffic congestion. I think I have come to appreciate remote work more than ever. Working from home has saved me the stress of this traffic while there are some people that have become comfortable with it since they work in another part of the state and live in another part.
This is my first diary game on Hive, Others will be dropping soon.