Shuttlers Digest: 350 to Ajah! What was I expecting?!

Hey Faves, here's another entry from our Shuttlers Digest Series. This time it's from Amaka. Enjoy!

I’m even embarrassed sharing this story, but maybe one or two people will learn something.

That’s how in the third week I moved to Lagos, one of my friends asked me to come to see her in Ajah. She had given the descriptions, where to take the bus from, how much it’ll cost, and all that jazz! But as I was on my to the park where I’d take the Ajah bus, I was literally about, give or take 20 steps away from the park when one small bus (we used to call them korope buses in school), parked in my front and was shouting “Ajah 350, Ajah 350, hold your change, I no get change”. I kid you not, people in the park started to run towards the small bus. My friend already told me it’ll cost N600 from the park to Ajah. But with the way people rushed it, I thought “why not, I’d be saving almost half the original fare”. So I quickly entered and sat in front of the bus. In my head, I got the best seat in the bus.

My people, that’s how we were going and going and going o. We were almost at the bridge close to Leventis when this bus started to make that “kankankan” sound, bringing out smoke, and immediately stopped moving! Ahhhh! Where did I know. As usual, the people in the bus started to hurl insults at the driver, saying if he knew his bus was bad, why was it on the road. I should add that at this point this guy had collected money from everybody! People started to ask for a refund, I was just there looking, dumbfounded. Alas, the driver said all he can give us back is N100. 100! Thats not even the worse part! Because we were some distance from the Leventis bus stop where we could get another bus, we had to walk all the way there. On getting there, they were charging N700 from Leventis to Ajah! I felt so foolish! I should have just gone to the park, now I ended up paying N950 for a trip that was N600, and still endured the humiliation and stress of walking to Leventis bus stop!

Never again sha, I learnt!

What a ride—or should we say, what a trek, Amaka! It just goes to show that sometimes a deal that seems too good to be true, probably is. We've all been there, thinking we're making a smart, budget-friendly choice only to find out we've actually played ourselves. Thanks for sharing this cautionary tale with us.

So, what about you, dear Faves? Have you had a moment like Amaka's that made you say, "Never again"? Share it with us; we're all ears and maybe your story will save someone else from a not-so-fun adventure.

Until the next Shuttlers Digest entry, keep riding smart and staying savvy, folks!