Travel In Nigeria

The following was written by David Perry, a Canadian and a member of the Lord’s church, about his return trip home to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, after the lectureship in May. He is in the midst of a one-year teaching commitment in a local school in Port Harcourt:

My trip home went well, in general. At least I made it home. The bus left Jos about 7:15, so not too much later than I was told it would leave. It was less than half full so I thought I had plenty of room. I told some that I had the middle seat in the back row and was concerned about being next to the toilet. I didn't need to worry about that as there was no toilet.

I thought I would have plenty of room and the trip would not be too bad until we stopped about an hour later to take on more passengers, and then again for more passengers, and yet again. I think we stopped about four times to pick up more people. In the end every seat was taken, the overhead storage was packed, and there was luggage and people in the aisles and entries. Basically it was beyond full by the time we started the long haul. By the way, at each of these stops there was no announcement made as to why we were stopping or for how long, and there was no designated toilet breaks along the way.   I was quite comfortable compared to so many. I
had a seat on the aisle so had room for my legs. Others stood or tried to sit in the aisle for the entire night.

When we arrived in Aba, Abia State, the bus stopped and transferred the remaining passengers to a mini-bus to go to Port Harcourt. When they unloaded the bus, there was a herd of goats removed from the hold below the bus. One of the other passengers took at least one chicken from the passenger compartment where it had traveled all night.

In the end I arrived safely at home by 8:00 in the morning and had enough time to rest for a few minutes, bathe, and make it to church. I am sending this story to you to tell you something of how the people in Nigeria live and travel and why they think that the "white man" is rich when they see him here. Safety regulations that we take for granted have not even been considered here yet, and may not be for some time. One thing I have experienced is that there is a lot of life and death in Nigeria. It seems sometimes that people are either going to welcome a new baby, to enjoy a wedding or to bury a family member almost every weekend. It is a tough life for many Nigerians, and I am living in luxury compared to the majority.

In Christian love,
David