Akure To Obubra : A Journey Of Wits

I never knew a journey that looked so fruitful and harmless could easily descend into chaos, an expected happiness leading to a series of agony and unpalatable experiences.

When I left home about 6 a.m. on this fateful Monday morning I was filled with anxiety. I had spent the previous two days meeting people and scouring the web on how to get the transport route from Akure to Obubra. Not getting a direct bus to the city of my mandatory three weeks NYSC orientation had got me worried. However, I always believed I could go anywhere in the country as long as I had access to the internet.

As the bus I boarded departed for Onitsha at about 6:45 a.m. I quickly checked Nairaland - where I got my journey route - for confirmation. I left Akure with a firm belief that I will be in Obubra before dawn. "I can't afford to get there any later so as to get a comfortable bedding space," I thought loudly.

The journey to Onitsha was smooth and hassle free. I alighted off the bus at about 12:15 p.m. and got myself a snack as I headed to the nearest park for the next phase of my journey. The information I had said the fastest route to Obubra was getting to Abakaliki where there are waiting buses to Obubra, especially at the period when corp members are going to camp.

It took about three hours for the bus to Abakaliki to get filled up. I was operating on a very tight budget so I had little choice but to wait. The bus eventually moved at about 4 p.m. and I was hopeful I'll get to Abakaliki by 7 p.m. Though it will be dark, I was determined to hop on the next bus to Obubra even if I get to Abakaliki by 9 p.m. At that time, the road was relatively safe and travelling at night wasn't as dangerous as it is now.

Ten minutes into the journey I was already fast asleep. Out of nowhere, a loud crashing sound interrupted me. The impact wasn't much but the bus I was in just rammed into the back of a Toyota Tundra on the highway. Funnily enough, we weren't even out of Onitsha yet. To make matters worse, the bus driver was guilty and the vehicle he rammed into was a government truck. The bus driver was held responsible and told he had to fix the vehicle. That was the genesis of my problems.

When the bus driver got quoted the price to fix both vehicles, he busted into tears. Firstly, the bus doesn't belong to him. Secondly, he's one of these "agberos" who tried to utilise the absence of the original bus driver to make quick bucks, so he had no authority to drive the bus. When the owner of the bus eventually showed up, the first action he took was to land two hot slaps on the right cheek of the bus driver. It was about 4:45 p.m. and I was getting restless so I could care less if he decides to chop off the driver's head. All I want is to get out of Onitsha as soon as possible.

By 6:35 p.m. our bus was eventually patched up and ready to roll. As at then, half of the passengers already caught another vehicle to save their journeys. With the little amount of money on me I can't afford to do that so I stayed and checked my time in moments as the rickety bus navigated its way to Abakaliki, determined to board the bus to Obubra no matter how late it was.

After traveling for about two hours, the bus was struggling to move. We were moved into another bus, a crawling one loaded with market women who alighted at every main junction. Without saying, they made my journey a tormenting one. And when I alighted at Abakaliki at about 10:35 p.m., I was staring at pitch darkness and very little movement. Still determined to continue my journey, I walked to the nearest filling station to ask about the bus to Obubra.

Luckily for me, I met another corp member who was there at the behest of NCCF to assist stranded corp members like me. She showed me the empty bus park and convinced me to pass the night at the NCCF lodge before resuming my journey. She was God sent as I was already stranded in a city I knew no one at such a late hour. When I got to the lodge, I met other stranded dudes heading to Obubra. Our adversity bonded us in an instant as we slept with hope that we'll get to the orientation camp the next day. Not that I had much sleep though.

On Tuesday, we got to the Obubra bus park as early as 6:30 a.m; by 7:15 a.m. the bus moved. I felt a sense of calmness as we started the final phase of a tormenting journey. But then, who said my torment has ended? In typical form, the vehicle broke down in the middle of nowhere less than an hour into the two and half hour journey. As at this point, I no longer feel frustrated anymore - I already grew numb to it.

With a wry smile, I got off the vehicle and murmured expletives. I wasn't too worried about the journey anymore. What worried me was where the vehicle broke down because I've always heard that some cannibals roamed that area. And having seen a lot of films on cannibalism, episodes kept playing in my head. However, it's broad daylight and I'm not alone. Despite that, I stayed close to the group on the road as we waited for the driver to fix the vehicle. It will be somehow hard for some cannibals to drag me off the main road in broad daylight.

The vehicle was eventually fixed and we continued the journey with no hassle. At about 1pm I got to the orientation camp looking jagged and rough, while the 30 hours episode made me look like someone who just escaped an asylum. Immediately I got cleared, I located a friend of mine who already secured a bed space for me. About 30 minutes later, I had a sound sleep. The journey to Obubra tested my wits; it made me question the motive behind the NYSC programme.

Though I've embarked on other testing journeys since then, I never believed a journey that was meant to last 13 hours would occupy about 30 hours of my life. It was a journey I will never forget in a hurry.

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