So last week, I announced that I was travelling to Ibadan for the Steemit Meet-up organised by Stach. The Meetup ended on Saturday, I spent Sunday with my aunt and on Monday, I decided to make my way back to Ife.
Getting The Funds
I had hoped to sell some SBD when I arrived Ibadan. However, the falling price of SBD discouraged me. So instead, I asked a friend to give me a loan to cover transportation costs for my return trip. she drove a hard bargain and we finally agreed on an interest of 50%. (It’s quite a lot but I had no alternative at the time). She transferred the money and I picked up my loaded backpack and made my way to the nearest ATM and withdrew the money. With enough cash, I began my journey.
Steemit Evangelism
After mounting and dismounting from two commercial motorcycles and boarding a final taxi, I found myself at the park. There, I would board a bus that would take me to Ife. At the park, while we were waiting for the bus to be filled, I meet MSB for the first time. He’s a fellow student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. I introduced Steemit to him and enjoined him to sign up. You can read all about that here.
Exploitation At The Fuel Filling Station
Soon, the bus was filled and we hit the road. A few minutes later, the driver drove into a fuel filling station to buy petrol. He told the attendant to sell 20 litres to him. The attendant instantly replied that 20 litres would cost three thousand four hundred naira (N3400). I was momentarily dazed. I had looked at the pumping machine and the price per litre was N145. I do not trust my mathematical abilities so I opened the calculator app on my phone and did the maths 3400 ÷ 20. The result was 175. So the fuel attendant was selling a litre for 175 instead of 145; almost 28% added to the original cost.
I turned to MSB and showed him my calculations. He simply shrugged and turned to his phone. Neither the driver nor any of the passengers even showed concern. The driver simply paid up as soon as the sale was completed as if that was aright. I wondered to myself if the driver even knew that he had just been cheated. It was terrible to say the least but I could do nothing about it. Speaking up would have been a case of the consoler crying louder than the bereaved.
Constant Delays
A few metres from the filling station, the vehicle began to slow down. Soon, the bus came to stop and the driver alighted. Everyone asked for why the vehicle stopped. It turned out that the bus had some kind of fault. Immediately, some passengers requested that the driver call the park and ask that another bus be sent to take us to Ife. The driver ignored the request as he attempted to fix the fault himself. Soon, he pronounced the problem was resolved. And so the journey continued.
Less than ten minutes later, the bus began to slow down again. Surely, something was amiss with the bus, I thought to myself. The bus did come to a stop again, despite the hard puch the driver gave to the pedal below. He then alighted to check the problem again. The cries from the passengers for another bus sprang up again. The driver ignored the cries and attempted again to fix the problem. This time, he slide under the bus and began tinkering with something I didn’t see. Once again, the bus was ready to move.
Once more, the bus broke down again. This time for an extended period. All the while, I had remain undisturbed but this time I became worried. We were out in the middle of the road with no residential building in sight. There was also no roadside mechanic in sight. If he requested for another bus from the park, it would take a while before the bus got to us. This time I watched as he took his time to fix the problem. I know nothing about vehicles so I couldn’t tell what the problem was. Thankfully, within 10 minutes, it was fixed again and we were well on our way.
Welcome to Ife
After an additional 40 minutes on the road, we arrived Ife. The journey was tiring to say the least. I bid my goodbyes to MSB as he alighted before me. When I arrived at my stop, I alighted and continued the rest of the journey on foot.
I’ve had more eventful trips so this one didn’t get to me that much. There was one time, on one of my trips, that the bus I boarded was stopped by law enforcement agents who suspected that we might be transporting illegal substances like marijuana. Imagine!
I did promise to publish a report of the Steemit meet-up at Ibadan. I will. It is only a matter of time. Do keep your finger crossed.
Thanks for reading
Blessings.