Hello hivians, trust you are doing great.
Welcome to my blog
I am on my way to Oshodi, coming from mile 2 area of Lagos State, Nigeria. I boarded a bus peacefully not having a hint or whim that the journey was going to be an eventful one.
I sat down behind the driver's seat,at the first row, close to the window as I like the air coming in and it saves me the stress of adjusting for any onboarding passenger. It also helps me to easily buy snacks and drinks during traffic.
The bus conductor stated his price and I agreed with it as I felt that it seemed fair, in view of the current fuel price hike in Nigeria. There were passengers already seated in the bus and it was just remaining three more passengers for the bus to be filled and then we move.
After what felt like ages (although it was some minutes), the bus was finally filled and the driver ,started his vehicle and the cruise began.
I had already observed all the passengers on the bus, just to be safe and I noticed a fair-skinned young lady sitting at the second to the last row. I noticed she seemed like an aje- butter (a rich or tush person) to me, but I paid no mind as I like to mind my business whenever I make use of public transport.
A passenger sitting directly behind me on the second row, received a phone call and he was quite loud much to my dismay. He was busy conversing with the caller with reckless abandon and no regard for our serenity. Then the bomb happened.
No wahala ehn, I go call you when I reach Maryland, I dey inside bus now bye-bye.
The man was telling the caller that he would call him once he had gotten to his destination.
Then the fair aje-butter babe I mentioned earlier, cut the man short. She was like Mr Man, it is I am on a bus not inside a bus.
"Shewwww, see me see trouble o, am I not inside the bus now? "The man asked in his igboic accent
No, she replied, you are on a bus. The man was confused and I could sense that he was becoming annoyed. He quickly retorted back the fair lady,
"What do you mean by that? Am I on top of the bus, or is there something wrong with your eyes. Is this not inside the bus? See you this small girl take your time o" the man snapped at her.
The girl was neither perturbed by his tone nor was she bothered by the man's warning.
When the bus is moving, you don't use in but on, so you should say I am on a bus,she replied him sharply.
The man not wanting to get schooled ignored her as a panel of judges had already formed over the issue. Some passengers were in support of the lady while some were in support of the man and some preferred to sit on the fence, I was among the latter.
Without the man's response coming forth, we all thought the squabble was over, when another passenger sitting at the third row,challenged the lady.
What's the English way of saying, Oshodi owa? This passenger asked
Other passengers including myself burst out laughing because we are used to that language or should I call it slang, whenever we wanted to alight at our preferred destination. It was what we knew.
Frankly speaking, if I were to be in her shoes, I would have declined the question because it's not been taught in schools, as far as I know but she didn't do that.
Rather she sat up straight, made a pose and said......the right way to say it is Oshodi is dey, is dey
The whole bus erupted in laughter,in fact I laughed so hard that tears fell from my eyes. As if on cue, the bus conductor turned to her and said....
See make I tell you,no go talk that kind thing for bus o, driver go just carry you pass your bus stop
That earned the bus conductor cheers of laughter as most passengers agreed with him. With my corner eye I could see the first passenger whom the fair lady tried to school beam with arrogance,as he felt that justice had been served for his humiliation.....there was more to come.
An elderly woman who was also a passenger, used that opportunity to tell the conductor.... "Oga conductor under bridge is dey,is dey o"
Another round of laughter erupted again and this time the fair lady did not back down. She stood her grounds claiming to be correct and that if anyone has a better answer they can speak up.
A man sitting beside the driver chipped in and said "I think it should be, Oshodi is here is here chai, I cannot but laugh out loud. In my mind I was like this is what happens when you try to remove the ancient landmarks of culture especially language, I have learnt to just roll with it.
As I type this, the matter has not come to a close. I wonder who will settle this?
Let me pen down here so I don't miss my bus stop.
Thanks for your time on my blog.....Shalom
