Nine Categories Of Passengers In Commercial Buses In Lagos Everyone Can Relate To

Lagos State, the commercial hub of Nigeria, houses people of different tribes, religions and family backgrounds, all struggling to make a living for themselves.

The state, with a land area of about 3, 577sq/km, has about 21 million residents according to the National Population Commission of Nigeria, as of 2016.

Despite being the smallest state in Nigeria, in terms of physical size, it is one of the megacities around the globe, filled with a lot of job opportunities.

However, one of the most frustrating things about Lagos is traffic congestion, which is an unavoidable aspect of residents’ daily struggles. Lagos is essentially two cities (Island and Mainland) in one, congestion all over the state has been a major issue every resident has to deal with.

Journeying around the city can be sometimes stressful due to traffic congestions and sometimes interesting because there is bound to be one form of drama or the other.

Yellow buses or Danfo, widely used and sometimes boisterous, have no separate lane either to race or drive through. The impatience of Lagos motorists give the track an unhelpful volatility and the categories of passengers is another thing one has to deal with.

There's hardly a day a commuter goes out without coming across different kinds of people that they journey with for a couple of minutes or even hours, depending on the situation of traffic or one's destination.

AllNews has compiled interesting and fun facts about the state commuters.

The Aggressive Ones

Passengers under this category are those who flare up and are always ready to fight at any provocation. For instance, stepping on them while rushing to board a bus, or too much body contact triggers their anger. 

Sometimes, the struggles of having to wake up as early as 3am, prepare for work, leave home by 4am and return home by 10pm is enough to make an Anthony Joshua out of anyone. 

The 'Prim And Proper'

The “bros, abeg no touch/ match me set” or “abeg sit down well”, are always very conscious in the bus and do things in an advance way.

Many times, this kind of people get other passengers questioning them on why they are yet to get their private jet or cars. All they want is just to be on their own without having to touch anyone or vise-versa. They are also the category of people who control the driver to use seat belts.

The Talkatives

They are the outgoing and attention-seeking kind of people, that oftentimes bring irrelevant details into a conversation.

These are set of people who always have something to say. If they get lucky, they come across someone from their hometown and the conversation takes another dimension. 

The Oversabi Ones 

They know almost everything; they are ones that almost teach drivers how to drive or maneuver. They are also politicians that know the president who’s the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. The funniest thing is that people with this attitude lead the conversation into arguments, especially when they start attacking tribes, most of whom are passengers on the same bus.  

The Jonahs

The set of people sleep off in the bus barely 5 minutes in transit and some go as far as snore. They don't care if it is just a short trip or a long one - they just can't wait to sleep. Passengers tend to experience sleepiness due to a combination of factors such as unhealthy diet choices, physical work, lack of enough sleep the previous day, irregular work schedules, or long working hours. Dramas will occur when these people sit close to the ‘prim and proper’ set who do not like any body contact. Some sleep and wake after the driver must have gone past their destination.

The Disc Jockeys

Of course, there can be Disc Jockeys in commercial buses too. These are people who choose to listen to any kind of music on the bus, without minding if other passengers love the genre or not.

The Callers

It’s quite understandable that the hooting of cars or network may hinder smooth communication with another party, but there are some people who scream at the top of their voices during phone conversations. These people get each passenger turning around and silently hissing since it’s going to be a bit difficult to shut them up. The most annoying thing is when they speak in languages people do not understand.

The Pick-Pockets

There is a belief that whoever must reside in Lagos has to be smart. In situations where there is a large crowd as the bus stop, pickpockets take the opportunity to carry out their activities. They also pretend to be passengers and end up stealing valuables from others. By the time the victim realizes what's happened, the pickpocket is long gone. Most of these pickpockets are usually with no weapon, making it difficult to suspect them.

The Sellers

Commuters around Oshodi/Apapa expressway in Lagos cannot but come across this set of people. Majority sell products at cheaper rates and persuade other passengers to patronize them.