It did not start today. It has been with us for a long time. The only surprise now is the dimension it is taking. In this part of the country, it is known as “Attachment “ in our cars and buses. Just take a drive from Asaba to Onitsha, you will see or notice them in action.
They are everywhere and can cause you some discomfort or even embarrass you. Yet, the drivers,(their Ogas) cannot stop them because they are part of the deal.
No doubt, Nigerians are very resilient people. They try to survive even in the worst of times. In recent times, most of them have resorted to be traveling in the boot of cars and buses due to the high cost of transportation in the country and the hardship imposed on the people by the present administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Recently, a report said that the travellers were going from Sokoto to Lagos but could not afford to pay the transport fare for a seat in a car and so decided to be tied with the luggage in the boot of the bus.
Consequently, the report said they chose to travel in the uncomfortable position in the boot of the car or bus for the long journey due to hardship in the country. In a separate report, another traveller who spoke in the same vein said that in Niger State, travelling at the back of a truck laden with goods is no big or strange thing.
Thus, while some Nigerians see it as unfortunate and dehumanizing in a country as ours, others do not see anything wrong with it.
One recalls a story a friend told me not quite long where a Road Safety official had an encounter with a car driver on one of our major roads in the country.
According to my friend, the Road Safety official flagged down a vehicle to stop and started their normal search and screening of the vehicle. And in the course of the search, he saw an unusual luggage–a man in the boot with the luggage and he raised alarm on what he saw. Surprisingly, the man in the boot asked the Road Safety official, “why are you shouting, is this your first time of seeing a man in the boot of a car? He continued ,that he was traveling and did not have enough money because of the high transport fare, he now decided to get to his destination in the boot of the car with his less fare.
One Musa Jubril, from Taraba State said that travelling on top of trucks loaded with goods is very common in their area. According to him, travelling on top of trucks loaded with luggages is cheaper, though it is not convenient at all, not to talk of travelling in a car boot with luggage. He told this reporter ,”You know things are hard and people must travel to other places and if one does not have enough fare to get there, he has to find a way out by travelling in that boot of a car. Adding that, it is better than stealing or cheating.
He mentioned some popular ways of travelling to include air travel, bike, boat, bus, car, motorcycle and train, but stated that none of the above named means of transportation is affordable now and so they should not blame those who travel in the boot of cars even though it is not convenient in the long hours of the journey.
Also speaking, Abudulahi Mohammed who lives in Asaba, Delta State said the ways of people in the Northern part of the country is quite different from here. He said that there in the North, there is nothing new or strange in people travelling in the boot of cars to get to one’s destination. But Moses Chukwuka, a Youth Corper said it can only happen in the Northern part of the country. He said, I was amazed how humans are being transported like animals in the North. This is so dehumanizing. “I wonder the level one gets to allow himself to be transported like a commodity, adding that, if you check the amount he is to pay to sit inside the vehicle, it won’t be more than 500-1,000 naira.
Mrs. Ebube Juliana, a trader at the State Capital, Asaba, said that it is normal to travel on top of luggage in a truck in this country, especially business men and women who goes to village/bush market, this is so, to save cost not minding the danger posed by their action. She said that Road Safety officials usually see it and would not do anything because people are use to it. “It is not easy, but what can we do in this period of hardship and poverty in the land, noting that it is funny but serious “.
One Benjamin Edet said similar things that happen in the North also happen in the South, West and Eastern part of the country. Take a look at our vehicles that ply from Asaba to Onitsha that carry passengers, bus conductors even carry passengers they call “attatchment” (extra people) who pay less to get to their destination. One attachee from Asaba to Onitsha said that he pays less when he enters a bus and that he saves some money by so doing in these hard times and the high cost of transportation in the country.
He said that for a man to stay in the boot of a car with luggage is not the best but when considered from all sides of the bargain, the man closes his eyes to take the plunge, at least, to survive. Its part of survival strategy by Nigerians, but can it be a way out, he querieds.
