Kola To Iyana Ipaja by Ojetunde Esther.

Phew! I am in school now! Let me rush to submit my assignment. I greet my coursemates and hurry to get to my course rep before the dues time of submission. Than I hurry back to continue our discussion. We have been on a long break.

Me: Hi Halimat, how are you doing?

Halimat: I am great

Me: How is everyone back at home?

Halimat: They are great and yours

Me: They are doing very well thank you

Halimat: oya come and gist me about your break now……

Our gist continued till we got back to our hostel.

I got back to my room gisted with them, ate to my fill and continu gisting. I got tired and got on my bed trying to go through how my day was and then I remembered a very intriguing one! Yes! The us that took me from kola to Iyana Ipaja.

Flashback to 9am I was around kola bus stop to get Iyana Ipaja bus. Nothing unusual happened, the usual shouts of the conductor, “Iyana Ipaja”, “Ikeja”, “Oshodi”, rend the air with various traders calling out their wares and many buses horning with their calls, all in a hurty to move. The normal lagos busy life.

As soon as we left the bus stop and everyone balanced well, people started talking. The people who sat at the front acted so serious as if he wanted to collect the steering wheel from the driver.He would often interject, ” stop here”, “turn here”, “do not pass that side, there is always hold up at thea side”. Any time the driver does not listen to him he starts speaking big big oyinbos.

Then in the main part of the bus, a woman sitting right behind me started to lecture a woman beside her about how to dress well for her husband, how she needs to package well so he does not look outside. The funny that happened next was that the woman brought out her Bible and started preaching. It was so hilarious that I had to check back to see who was talking. The woman preaching was actually putting on a singlet on a mini skirt and preaching to the other woman who was well dressed. I did not know when I muttered that “wetin we no go see for this Lagos”.

OJETUNDE ESTHER

KOLA TO IYANA IPAJA

A woman by the window side was having an argument with the bus conductor who was owing her change and did not want to pay her. He claimed he did not have change. The woman almost went mad with anger when she got to her destination and he is saying the same thing. There was so much noise as people were shouting at the conductor to pay. Immediately, she got down from the bus, she dragged the conductor ready to fight him. It took the help of people to release him. Then she got her change and left.

There were some young people with their earpiece listening to songs. A woman in the bus said they are forming “Americana” for us.

Then a man with a sonorous voice started singing worship songs from various tribes. The Igbo people in the bus were so happy hearing someone singing song in their language so well in a Yoruba land. He sang for a while and then he started to preach. He shared testimony of how God saved his life from death. Women been the emotional people that they were started to give him something.

Another man seeing how much money the other made, took up the invisible mic and started to preach, and sing too.Unfortunately for him, he was shut up and told to sit down by one of the women and the remaining people in the bus started laughing.

Then the driver roughly passed a turn making the car swerve, every body started hurling insults at the man. Instead of him to apologize, he kept saying his own. With that we got to Iyana Ipaja, everyone dispersing. Goodnight(yawns)

Meaning of some words;

1.”Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja, Oshodi”, -bus stops in Lagos state.

2.”wetin we no go see for lagos” – What are we not going to see in Lagos