I be Danfo Driver, nah my moto dem dey call Danfo and Lagos be ma territory.

E go don pass like 10 Danfos wey I bin get plus the ones wey nah my boys dey drive.

Dis one life wey I come, nah wetin I go do till I peme be that o.

We even get song gan, song wey some boys sing that time. That song sweet die make I no lie. E popular gan and nah everybody dey sing am dat time wey we still be boys.

Be like say I just dey drive my first Danfo,

Nah my mechanic finish that one.

Nah conductor me and my brothers dem, awon ọmọ ìyá mi, àwọn tèmi dey do, as Omo Isale Eko wey we be, we don dey see our fathers and brothers dem do different work but we plenty wey like this one.

Nah we dey drive Lagos, nah we-we for this Eko, nah we dey run am.

Even when all dis dem LagBus and BRT come, you go think say we go lose beht no be we still dey here?

That time ehn, nah my ìyámí beg me o.

Ah sùn re o Màámí, nah she beg me sey if I no gree go school make I do driver work, say that one better.

But to start am no easy o, as I gather small money for my conductor work, nah she put mouth join make the money complete, nah so I take buy my number 1 Danfo for this life.

Beht make I no lie you, ojú ti rí o, I don too suffer for this life o.

No be say I no go school at all but all my guys dem go go work, me I go dey carry one book, no be me o, and I no too even like the school, tisha go just dey tell you plenty story.

Even sef, my sister, àbúrò mi go school and she do well. Now wey she too don get money, she go dey advice me say make I leave my work, but I be Danfo Driver, nah my talent be dis.

I don get money for this tin o, nah 3 moto I get now for outside minus my own and dem dey bring me money. Those my boys crazy gan o, dem dey do anyhow but we get how we as we dey run am. I be even do park chairman one time, ọmọ I run o, tins dey happen and me I get strength for wàhálà but if wàhálà enter my domot, e go see shege.

But kò easy, when I be small boy that time, we go just dey j'aiyé, any money wey we see we go you know... Me I still dey j'aiyé o but nah low-key now.

No be all of us lucky o, get one time wey nah every week we dey go burial, say persin don die for park. Sontines you go just hear say dem just fall down, just die laidat. Sontines e go be police matter or accident. Ahh kòní da fún accident o.

Me sef as I take be, nah trailer jam be one time. Dem go dey shout say we no dey service our bus but how trailer no go get brake? How?

I suffer that time o, wey my mama carry me go Igbóbi go arrange my leg. Nah that same accident some of us don peme and wetin our eyes don see ehn, mouth no fit talk am finish.

Me I no get wife wey I put for house o, but I get two pikins and me I dey take care of them, nah still this Danfo money.

No be say I be good person laidat o, me sef don do bad bad tins and I even know say many people and passenger wey we dey carry everyday dey always look us say nah to dey drink, carry women, born pikins everywhere and to just dey jaye. No be say pipu no plenty among us wey dey do dis tin but we sef nah pesin too nah. And una pipu dem no too gbádùn laidat, if you loose guard for passenger or car owner dem go run you street. Nah all of us dey mad for this Lagos, nah the action different.

I no know why e still dey surprise people say some of use go school, asin all dose dem univesty, shey for dis country we dey so. Before country even hard sef, we don get dem plenty, some of dem be my own boys wey I carry moto give and dey no too dey like do conductor because kondor work nah another level ajé, but me I believe say e good make pesin do small conductor work fest. We even get woman, plenty woman wey sabi this work, nah dem be the oga o, if you see dem for park, agbèrò and police dey fear dem small-small. We con even get pastor, get Alfa sef and all of dem get dia own for body, no be say me sef no dey go shush sontines. As we get good egg, nah so we get bad egg join, like normal human being tins. Nah my daughter dey talk dat one.

As for police mata, police no be our friend o, nah our neighbour, we fit like neighbour or make we no like am. Police, VIO, LASTMA o, all of them wey dey wear uniform ehn, won ya weré gan. We sef no innocent, dem too no pure, bhet we know how we dey take handle ourself. Their family nah agbèrò. Me laidis, I no even know which one dey give me headache pass, nah dem sabi.

We dey see small small change for this work o but you go hustle ọmọmi. Some days dey normal-normal, beht many days ehn crazy gan ni o. No be dis same Lagos? If e no be police matter, nah mechanic or government sef. And dis one wey all of us dey chop now, petrol money. Una go dey talk say we too put price for moto beht if you go market no be money we go spend or we no go chop?

I be don drive for plenty place for inside this Lagos o, Obalende, Oshodi, when Oshodi still be Oshodi dat time, Ajah, CMS, Island o, Akute, Berger even Ikorodu, different different places. Ajé tins don different now o, road don better beht e never reach everywhere, and some of the road dey quick spoil sef. Sontines you go just hear different different news like say tomorrow no dey but most dis tins nah just packaging, we know say packaging plenty for this Lagos.

In dis work sha, you gast to use something o, because e dey tire body, dat time wey I still dey strong, if I don use one satchet drink Panadol everything go disappear but now boys don dey old, and my pikins too go dey talk no use dis one, no chop dis one, wetin we go now chop now o?

Beht me sef don dey learn to dey calm down, I wan chop oúnjẹ ọmọ, make pesin no just suffer suffer, just die laidat. K'Ọlọ́hun ṣàánú.

-Chesed

------------------

I am a Danfo Driver, it's my bus that is called Danfo and Lagos is my territory. I think I've had over 10 Danfos including the ones that I gave some of my boys to drive. In this one life that I've come, that's what I'll do till I die.

We even have a song that some boys sang. The song is very sweet for real. It was really popular then when we were still boys. I think it was when I was driving my first Danfo, my mechanic destroyed that one.

Me and brothers, my close friends preferred to work as a conductor. We grew up in Isale Eko (Downtown Lagos) and we saw our brothers and fathers doing different kinds of work but we liked the conductor work.

We drive Lagos, we run this Lagos. Even when LAGBUS and BRT were introduced, you must have thought we'd lose but we are still here, aren't we?

Then it was my mother that begged me. Ah, keep resting Mother. She's the one who told me that even if I don't agree to going to school, that being a driver was a better option to being a bus conductor.

It wasn't easy to start though, she was the one that added money to the money I had tried to save from my conductor work to purchase the Danfo bus. That was how I got the number 1 Danfo in my life.

But, let me tell you the truth, I've seen a lot, I've suffered too much in this life. It isn't like I didn't go to school at all, but all my friends were going to work and I'd be carry books about? Not me at all. And I didn't even like school, the teachers will just continue to say so much talk.

In fact, my younger sister went to school and she excelled. Now that she is successful, she continues to advise me to leave my work but I'm a Danfo Driver, this is my talent.

I have been able to get rich doing this, I have 3 other buses minus the one I drive and they bring me money.

Those my boys are really crazy though, they behave anyhow but we know how to handle ourselves. I even did park chairman at some point but I didn't continue, because a lot is happening and I don't have strength for trouble. But if trouble comes though, I am ready for it. But it really isn't easy, when I was younger, we go out to enjoy ourselves everytime, and use any money we make to you know... I still enjoy myself but it's much more low-key now.

No be all of us lucky o, get one time wey nah every week we dey go burial, say persin don die for park.

We aren't all as lucky though, there was a time that we were attending burial ceremony every week because someone died in the park. Sometimes, you'd just hear that someone slumped and died just like that. Sometimes, it is police matter or accident. Ah, it will not be well with accidents. I myself have been have had a crash with a trailer-truck before. You'd hear people ranting about how we don't properly service our buses but does a trailer not have a car brake? How? I really suffered then. It was my mother that carried me to Igbobi to mend my leg. And some of us have died through accidents. What our eyes have seen, we can't finish talking about it.

I am not married but I have two children and I take care of them well with the money I get from my Danfo. It's not like I'm really a good person, I admit that I've done some bad things and I know a lot of people and our passengers think of us as drunkards, womanizers and illegitimate fathers fathering children everywhere and people who just enjoy life. It's not like we don't have a lot of people like that amongst us who do these things but we normal people too. And it's not like some of you people are even completely alright, if you loose guard for passengers and other road users, they will disrespect you. We are all crazy in this Lagos, only our actions are different.

I don't know why people still get surprised when they find out that some of us are educated, I mean up to university level, especially in the current state we are in this country. Before things were this bad, we already had a lot of them among us. And some of them are my own boys that I gave my buses to. They don't usually like conductor work because conductor work is another level for real. Although, I believe that doing small conductor work is good.

We even have female Danfo Drivers and a lot of them are very good at this work. If you see them at the park, even agberos and police fear them a little. We also have some religious leaders as well, and they all have their own characteristics. I also attend church sometimes. We have both good and bad eggs like every other normal human being. My daughter is the one that says that.

As for police matter, police is not our friend, they are our neighbour. We can either like or dislike a neighbour. Police, VIO, LASTMA, all the uniformed people, they are really crazy. We are not also innocent, and they are not saints too but we know how we handle ourselves. Their family members are the Agberos. For me, I don't even know which one gives me headache more.

We earn some money doing this work but you'd have to hustle a lot. Some days are normal, but most days are crazy. Is not this same Lagos?. If it's not police matter, it is mechanic or even government problem. Now the current headache, the hike in fuel price. You all complain about how we overprice transport fares but if you go to the market, you'd have to spend money no? Or won't we eat too?

I have driven through different routes in this Lagos; Obalende, Oshodi, when Oshodi was still Oshodi, Ajah, CMS, Island, Akute, Berger even Ikorodu, different places. For real, things are different now, the roads are better but some places are still lacking. And some of these roads get damaged quickly. Sometimes you hear different crazy news but most these things are just packaging. We all know that packaging is a lifestyle in Lagos.

In this job though, you have to use something, because it is very exhausting. When I was still younger, if I use one sachet drink and Panadol, I'd be alright but now I'm getting older and my children are always saying don't use this, don't eat that. What are we going to eat now?

However, I'm learning to calm down, so I eat the fruits of my labour, one mustn't just suffer so much, just die like that. May God have mercy.

-Chesed