When We Were Passengers

In the republic of Susuka, we woke up early in the morning and were desperate to catch up with the fortunes of the day. We dare not stay in our homes because they would accuse us of being poor due to our laziness and not their recklessness. We worked so hard for peanuts and though our workplaces were far away from our homes, we never missed any fleeting time to get to our workplaces.

As we all schlepped to the bus station that day, we waited for a bus to convey us to our promise land and unhurriedly, two buses arrived. The first bus had the inscription “CHANGE IS HAPPENING” and the second bus had the inscription “CHANGE IS COMING”. We were quite confused to choose which of the two buses to board. The driver of the first bus looked younger, handsome and energetic. His conductor (mate) on the other was an introvert and was quietly seated on the back seat of the bus.

The driver of the second bus looked mature and serious, I mean he meant business. His conductor (mate) looked young and brilliant, very active and was seated right behind the driver. Suddenly, though we were in hurry to get to our destinations, we were confused and didn’t know which of the two buses to board. Within a New York minute, the first driver began to convince us “My people, I have been the driver of this bus for some years now. I was the conductor (mate) and I took over as the driver after the sudden death of the former driver of this bus and everyone will testify that I have transformed this bus since I took over.

I have changed most of the parts of the bus. My bus is stronger and there is always order, unity and peace unlike that bus over there where there is always chaos. I am a very competent driver and I have fixed all the problems in my bus; I use to have lighting problems in my bus but through my efforts, it has become a thing of the past. Please! Please board my bus. I am a very humble driver okay. I listen to the views of my passengers, please board my bus.” He stated. His conductor (mate) who was an introvert added “Yes, it is true, we are humble”

The driver of the second bus looked at them and shook his head off “Don’t listen to them, they are corrupt, there is discipline in my bus and I will give you your change with interest after paying for your lorry fare. It is one passenger one seat, one passenger on seatbelt. I am a very serious driver and I am not going to joke with your lives as I drive you to your various destinations.” His conductor also began to add up “We are both competent unlike the others; please join our bus, one of our buses drove you some years ago and you were drove safely. We have even improved on our services and you can just imagine. Do we have some Kanfusa people here? Oh! Please I am also a Kanfusa okay! We need you on board.” He retorted.

Immediately, some passengers in the queue began to board the two buses, albeit, a lot of us were still confused and watched them with our wondering eyes. The two buses seemed to have had a quite number of passengers on board but they still had to struggle to get the indecisive ones join so that the station master could start counting the number of passengers in each bus. As they kept on convincing the remaining passengers in the queue, hawkers also shouted their lungs out to get the passengers on board buy their items. Suddenly, the driver of the second bus bought a fruit juice to cool his system.

The passengers on his bus went agog and enamored, they also began to buy the same fruit juice and the entire station was steamrolled. As this unfolded, thirteen taxis and two mini buses arrived to compete with the two buses for the passengers, after a thorough inspection of the thirteen taxis and the two mini buses, the station master disallowed the thirteen taxis and declared them unfit to convey passengers. The other two mini buses were allowed to compete for passengers. Some of us were still confused and stood in the queue in befuddlement; we didn’t know which of the two buses to join. In my state of mix up mystification, I walked to the two buses to inquire from the passengers on why they board the two buses. “I board this bus because the driver is handsome” “I also board this bus because I am a Kanfusa” “I board this bus because my grandfather had board it before” I looked at them in disappointment and walked back to the queue. God save the Republic of Susuka.

“We are not children of a lesser god”
Ntenhene Felix
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