Thread by @TosinOlunuga

My ABEOKUTA-Lagos Train trip dairy, 17th February, 2022

This is without Prejudice

A mixture of the Good, The Bad & The Ugly

It's supposed to be my first train ride & this is my personal experience.

The Good.
@AdedotunTaiwo
@llawal_latifah

First and foremost, the idea of initiating and completing this laudable and long awaited infrastructure, is awesome. Kudos to the Buhari administration for it's completion.

I was inbound, Lagos. (My bitter sweet experience)
D journey from my home to d station began at 6.15am,

all in an attempt to avoid the rush for tickets. The station which is about 8km from my home started on a good note. I had planned to take a cab to the station, a break from the accompanying stress of driving to Lagos. (We all know Lagos is not an easy place to drive to)

At exactly 6.20am, a flagged down an incoming car, thinking it was a cab, as the atmosphere was still a bit foggy, and difficult to make out which car was approaching. The driver stopped and to my disappointment, it wasn't a cab, but, a privately own car. The driver bent over and

asked me to come in, I asked how much to the nearest destination to the terminal, and he said, "don't worry, just hop in, I just want to help you"

The first yeye thought that came to my head was, "look well before you enter o, we don't want stories that touch in these days of

kidnapping o" 😂. Anyways, I popped into the back section of the car and I felt, it was ok to deal, and off we went. (God bless the vessel used this morning, in Jesus name)

Now, the road to the Terminal.(The Bad)

That road which in my estimation, should be about 5km, is not

only a nightmare to motorist, but also a potential health hazard to humans as a result of the quantum level of the dust. This, honestly needs to be addressed and quickly too.

Finally arrived at the terminal at 7am.

Lovely view and ambiance from the outside, but, what I

experience within, unfortunately, messed up my anticipated impression.

Met a few potential passengers in the departure lounge sweating at such an early hour all because, the ACs were yet to be switched on, the entire lounge was almost pitch black to because, the lights had not

been switched on. (If the doors leading to the departure lounge are opened, then, I believe, it should be well lit)

Well, at the stoke of 7.30am, ticketing began. This was seamless, as passengers at this time were just about 15. Out of 6 ticketing cubicles, only was staffed.

Although, the other t cubicles were well equipped, but, had no one manning them.

Finally bought my ticket in less than 10mins and began strolling back to the departure lounge. Suddenly, I was tapped on my shoulder, and presented with my wallet, which I apparently forgot on the

table which filling the manifest form. Gave the young good Samaritan, Mr. Femi a copy of my 1st book for this very kind gesture.(Pix of him attached)

Hallelujah, lights, were finally turned on at 7.58am and the ACs switched on which was a welcomed relief.

The Ugly Side for me

Suddenly, hunger started flashing me at about 8am, I looked around, and there was no single eatery or snack shop which pained me Wella. I had expected that an edifice like this would have at least one snack shop or the other for d benefit of d early riders. Here I was wishing I

had taken some sandwiches with me from home. Deep in my thoughts, a lady approached me, saying she was a food vendor, and even showed me a few clips of some sumptuous meals on her phone, but, I politely declined. Not sure if she was an approved vendor, or someone who just saw an

opportunity to make some quick sales.

The Good
Anyways, train arrived on time. At exactly 09:00hrs. That was awesome.

The Very Ugly
Meanwhile, I still can't get over some ugly sights along the way...people lying down in-between rails oblivious of any care in the world or an

approaching train (Pix attached)

The train ride was really enjoyable, even had time to wink severally at a toddler who couldn't resist my grey hair 😂

The Good.
We finally arrived the Mobolaji Johnson terminal at Alagomeji, Yaba, at 10:45am. Quite a beauty to behold.

I pray

we improve on this and keep the fire 🔥 of maintenance at it's peak. Once again, kudos to Bubu on this project.

I love my Nigeria
@threadreaderapp unroll
@buzz_chronicles save as message