The day a lorry ran into my car on Gbagada express way

Peep the "Ajagbe ejo" that ran into my car on Gbagada expressway on the 19th of April last year. Safety is not the absence of danger, but the presence of a good God.

It was Ayan’s birthday, I’d gone to celebrate with him at his after work and Shuaib was my stand-in driver at the time, it was about this time last year, Ramadan was in full gear and in a way, it was a great alibi for Shuaib.

Ayan’s birthday only means one thing, lots of alcohol and bants. His cohorts were present for the hyping and for all the praise and worship that preceded eventualities, you’d wonder if the celebrant’s church members don’t see his WhatsApp status considering his strong position at their end.

I’m always not about the food but they provided good options. Shuaib was fasting so he didn’t engage, he was at a corner, pressing his phone and nodding his head to the music. It was past 7pm, you’d think the ever lively guy would opt to break his fast at the event, I’m glad he didn’t.

I had a few drinks and we set out to end the night. Apostle (Mr. Nice Guy) was right behind us in his car, we came out through Ilupeju bypass and linked Gbagada express way, I was on the phone to Muncahi I guess, the next I heard was a loud thud to the side of Shuaib…

Remember all those olden days Lorries that we call “Ajagbe ejo”? That was the monster that rammed into us, I remain grateful for the grip that Shuaib got from nowhere to steady the car right in the middle of the express, the joke became reality when I stepped down to see the two doors on the left badly damaged.

 The truck driver came down to assess the damage and like most of his ilk, he tried to ship blames on us, he legit asked why we didn’t leave the road when he honked, I didn’t know how to react. I was in-between being grateful to God for survival and tearing the idiot a dirty slap, but Apostle stepped in.

Apostle is a high ranking police officer, he flashed his ID card and in a quick twist, the truck driver started apologizing and begging for mercy. Boom! We were surrounded by area boys and those that want to make videos for Instagram and Facebook, we were urged to leave the express before another idiot sweeps us off the grid.

Two things jumped at me from the experience. I kid you not, this truck that was traveling to Enugu does not have brake, it was that night that I understood the acts of some motor boys who come down in traffic to place a big stone or wooden material by their trucks’ tyres.

How do you set out on thousands of kilometers without a brake? The driver told us himself that his truck doesn’t have one and that’s how he’s been driving it, you now wonder why there’s so much accidents on the road, it is not village people, we’re our own problems.

The second thing was the fact that people are always quick to bring out their phones to record instead of actually helping accident victims. A lady behind me was recording and running commentary as well. She was lying to whoever would watch the video she was recording because she said both drivers were drunk, Shuaib was fasting LOL.

I’m sure that video would make the rounds on WhatsApp, especially by mothers who would forward it to their children to dissuade them from drink-driving. I asked her if she was sure about her claims, she couldn’t say anything when she realized it was my car, would she delete the video? Your guess is as good as mine.

I’m glad I live to tell the story, I can’t find the picture of the car but the thumbnail is the picture of the truck that rammed into us.