Going out and returning safely: an underrated blessing.

Being alive comes with a lot of challenges and risks that will test us. Especially on Nigerian roads, most of our roads are very bad, with so many reckless drivers on the road. One might not even have to be on transit to be at risk of being involved in an accident. We've heard cases of people walking by the road or standing and getting hit by a vehicle or motorcycle.

My own experiences as a member of ENACTUS ABU ZARIA, an international non-governmental, non-profit organisation committed to inspiring students to proffer sustainable solutions in their immediate environment through entrepreneurial action to improve the lives of people who are in need of help.

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As part of the ENACTUS team, I, along with 53 other students, embarked on an approximately 16-hour road trip from Zaria to Lagos for the annual national competition, which usually takes place in Lagos. However, what was supposed to be a smooth journey was that we were supposed to take off on a Sunday as early as 5 a.m., but we took off around 9 a.m. later than scheduled because the school bus—a Marcopolo bus, to be precise—was taken to the mechanic workshop to be serviced in preparation for the journey ahead.

Not minding the delay, our spirits were still high as we began the journey. However, a few kilometres outside Zaria, disaster struck. Two tires fell off almost at the same time from the same wheel, making the bus tilt dangerously on the road. Immediately, everyone started panicking, and some students started crying. Fortunately for us, there were no cars approaching; otherwise, the story would have been a terrible one because it was a highway and cars usually speed off while driving. The driver struggled and succeeded in manoeuvring the car to the roadside. Immediately after the car came to a halt, everyone quickly jumped out to safety.

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The driver had to put a call through the school's mechanic to come down and fix the bus. It took the mechanic almost two hours to arrive at the scene, for a journey of barely an hour. The male students had to run back to pick up the tyres and the bolts. When the mechanic was done fixing it, it was then that we discovered that the root cause of the tyres falling off was negligence in proper maintenance; the bolts around those tyres were already worn out.

The journey, which was meant to last for approximately 16 hours, became a 33-hour journey. This was because we had to keep stopping at intervals to screw the worn-out bolts in place as they continued to loosen as we drove. By the time we got to our hotel around 6 p.m., we were exhausted and wasted; most of us had swollen feet.

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A second encounter was a shorter journey from Kaduna to Zaria. I was returning to school after attending an association meeting, to which I went as a representative from Zaria. I boarded a taxi from the motor park because it was safer than flagging down random cars by the road. While still in transit with other passengers, I heard a sound; it was a mechanical failure. The tyre along with the rim on the passenger side came out, and almost immediately our car started swaying us towards a big ditch at the side of the road.

I could see the hawkers by the roadside running away for their dear lives. Most of the passengers were already screaming and panicking because it looked like the inevitable was about to happen. I had no time to panic; instead, I was calm, said a word of prayer, and left everything to fate.

Miraculously, the car came to a halt just a little distance away from the ditch. We all quickly jumped out, and luckily, no one was injured.

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Sadly, the driver knew that his car was faulty but still decided to go ahead with the journey because he felt it was manageable. Since it was a short distance to Zaria from the accident point, I flagged down a vehicle by the roadside and continued with my journey. I was grateful for being alive.

Both experiences have left a mark. It taught me that life is short and one can be gone within a second. No matter how carefully you try to live your life, death is always hovering around you. Stepping out of our homes and returning home in one piece, especially as a Nigerian, is indeed underrated. Some accidents are due to negligence and carelessness, which most Nigerian drivers are guilty of, and could be avoided, while others are just inevitable. The importance of servicing and maintaining our vehicles cannot be overemphasized. Proper maintenance will at least minimise the rate of certain mechanical failures while on the road.

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