Who is the most senior staff
here? Come down right now.
He yelled again, this time like a
ferocious dog. Who is the most senior staff here? I need the person to signify right
now.
Dead silence permeates the whole
bus. Nobody moved an inch. Nobody said a word.
It was a case of bloody civilians
against a low-ranked military officer. Unfortunately, as low as his rank was, his
venom was enough to put a whole village in chaos.
That was our experience in the hand
of an over-zealous low-ranked military officer.
It was closing time and as usual,
we were all packed inside the staff bus heading through third mainland bridge,
Oworo to Ojodu-Berger. We call it the Ojodu-Berger Staff Bus. We were more than
colleagues. We have become families. We had no options anyways because we see
ourselves first in the morning and late at night. We were the team bonded
together by the same route and the same bus.
Most times, the trip home is
always an exhausting one.
We always have one or two things to talk and argue
about. We know ourselves. We know where to place ourselves. We have the quiet,
easy going ones; we have the always talking ones… (Well, I will agree that I belong
to the always talking group)
Like every other day, we approached
the Obalende part of bridge and…..everything changed.
I want to give you a little
background about our staff bus. We have hierarchies. The boss, the leaders, the
senior staffs occupies the front seat directly beside the driver and also the
front rows of the bus. Those of us that were junior staffs, we seat anywhere
and anyhow. The point is, we all want to follow the staff bus and we don’t want
to attract the judgment of the senior staffs.
Sometimes, they can be mean if
they want to. They will just order you to come down so that they can seat.
Funny enough, nobody ever acted to me that way….I have promised myself I won’t honor
such disgrace. We will drag it out right there but, I won’t bulge.
As we approached Obalende, A
normal (nothing special or fantastic) car came from the other side of the lane
and wanted to maneuver his way to our front. There was traffic so some people
drove as if they were going to Obalende and at the point where they were
supposed to go down the bridge to Obalende, they tried to maneuver and outsmart
other drivers keeping their lanes.
He was fully dressed in his White
Military Regalia. He drove like a tout and without apology or a signal or a
peace sign, he wanted to maneuver his way through. He had this “I am a military
man” look and he was so proud. His pride smelt from afar.
Our driver, an elderly fragile
looking man and very stubborn didn’t allow him. In anger, the military guy
drove and brushed us. He was trying to maneuver through the passenger side. He
brushed us, parked his 1983 car, brought out his Koboko and made his way to our
driver’s side.
He shouted at him to roll down
the car window but our driver declined. In anger, he pulled his koboko and with
one angry swipe, he shattered our side mirror. We were dazed. Is this
guy high on something? Our driver was boiling in anger so he rolled down his side
window and “Gbosa” the young man slapped an obviously elderly man than him. “Gbosa”
the second time. “Gbosa” the third time.
And blood started coming from his
nose. The military guy continued with his
torment of our driver. He used the Koboko on him like a small boy. He was screaming
and yelling at him at the same time. We were in the bus. I couldn’t take it
anymore.
I shouted back. What did he do?
Why are you so mean and wicked? Who the hell are you? Then I felt a hand close
to my leg. No, I felt a pinch. It was Abiodun. He told me quietly “Olamide
shut-up. Olamide Keep quiet. This is not an Aluta field. Just keep your mouth
shut before you put yourself in a deep mess” I shrugged it off. I told him
somebody should talk. Somebody should do something. The driver was bleeding and
we all sat down while this mad man in uniform continues with his rampage. He was
wrong. Absolutely wrong. He was at fault. So why did he treat an innocent,
fragile looking old man like that
As we were debating that, A Peugeot
504, loaded with Military officers drove past. The guy signaled to them and they
stopped on the express causing more traffic. They all came down towards our
bus. They asked what happened and we were trying to explain to them. They saw
it. They saw the blood running from the drivers face and nose. They saw the
angle and manner the two vehicles were and they knew the military guy was
wrong.
Before they came along, one of
us, a senior staff just bought a phone for almost thirty thousand. Don’t ask me
how much is thirty thousand. I am talking about 2009 here. Thirty thousand was
a whole lot of money to get a trending Nokia Phone with an inbuilt camera.
Wunmi just got his phone and we
just celebrated in the office. So while the drama was going on, Wumi came down
and took several pictures of the scene. It was meant to be our evidence against
the military guy. When those military guys came to join their brother’s, he
told them about Wunmi and his pictures. He reported Wunmi to them.
One of them barked. Where is the
phone? Wunmi was trying to explain that “I didn’t capture his face as stated by
him. I only took the pictures of the accident”…Suddenly, someone barked, give
me the phone. It was an order. Trembling and afraid, Wunmi gave him the phone.
He passed it to another plain-cloth guy and ordered him to smash the phone on
the floor.
Joke of the century…How can they?
The phone that took Wunmi almost 3months to save for. The phone that we just
celebrated and Wunmi bought us drinks and Gala. How can you smash a thirty
thousand naira phone on the floor? I was lost in my thought to even notice they
have smashed Wunmi’s phone as ordered.
The guy, removed the sim, gave it
to Wunmi, placed the phone on the floor and he smashed it with his legs…I have
never seen such in my life. The next orders was, put the
photographer in the booth and take him to the cantonment. Immediately Wunmi
heard that, I didn’t know he can run that fast…the guy jumped the four lane
express in one second….Wunmi was at the other side of the road running like
someone who just saw a demon…
Back to us…They screamed again,
who is the most senior staff here. We all looked at Mathew. He was our Oga. Our
Boss. Mathew did my interview for me as a Youth corps member. Mathew was the
handsome guy I was smiling sheepishly at while my interview was going on…until I
saw the rings ( Well, I told him already, so this is not new to him)
Mathew didn’t say a word o. They
screamed, yelled and suddenly, Tosin screamed. I am the most senior staff. What
is your problem? Who are you? Who do you work for? You criminals. You bad eggs
of the force. You will pay for this. You will
They shouted her down. Keep
quiet. Who are you talking to? Then Tosin stood up (a lady, so petite that I even
consider myself taller than) she stood up and pointed her fingers in their
eyes. You will pay for this. You will. They shouted at her. Threatened her that
they will arrest her, she told them, “cowards, arrest me and lose your jobs”
Arrest me and lose your life. I will send you out of the force…
Not sure of whose daughter she
might be…they left us. Our driver was bleeding…The side mirror was broken and
we were shattered emotionally.
On the way, I turned to Mathew. “Oga
Mathew, I am disappointed. You are the boss here. We all looked up to you why
didn’t you salvage the situation? You are a bit older, matured and understand this
drama more so why did you keep mute?
My boss told me “Olamide, My mama
told me, never argue with a man who will slap you and you will still prostrate
and say I’m sorry”. Knowing the senior staff has no meaning? Was I the one
driving? Why were they interested in knowing the senior staff?” What will the
knowledge of the senior staff do to them? We all pleaded with them so why were
they so concerned about the senior staff? I am a young man with a family and
the last thing I want is military wahala that I didn’t even start in the first
place…
The journey home was a long one. We
were all silent... for different reasons I guessed. I was angry at myself for failing myself. I
was angry with Oga Mathew for not standing up for us…I was angry with the
military guy for showing such display of madness…I was angry with the society
that gave him such power. I was angry with Nigeria
It’s been six years…….the memory
is still fresh…
