Lagos Danfo Tales: The Story of a College Graduate.

Ebere Vivian Akuche
Nov 7 · 4 min read

I wanted to write an article around the issue of the dilapidated states of our public buses aka danfo but after much thought I soon discarded it. After just leaving the walls of the University, I just started going out more often so what did I know? So I thought maybe I was just a little bit hysterical and just needed to give my fears time so I could get used to it like many others.

So imagine me seeing a makeshift fuel tank in a danfo bus for the first time and you’d understand why I was scared to my wits. I will get to how these makeshift fuel tanks look like.

So as I was about boarding this danfo on this fateful day, on entering my eyes went to a Jerry can at the back of the seats. Attached to the Jerry can was a pipe which had been inserted through a hole cut into the cover. Seeing this crude piece being put together was unusual and didn’t make any sense to me at first. Why would a Jerry can filled with fuel have a pipe passing through it?

The only available seat was the one in front of the Jerry can and that was were I sat. And so I sat backing the Jerry can but my side eye was trained to the Jerry can. I just couldn’t seat comfortably, the smell of fuel was so strong,I couldn’t help but be alert.

And so as the danfo started off on the journey, I saw it. From the hole through which the pipe had been passed through you could just see the fuel jumping out from the space left by the pipe and evaporating instantly. This happened every time the bus met gallops and it was torturous enough. It was then that I traced the other end of the pipe to were it went under a metal covering what was left of the engine and that’s when it dawned on me.

Picture of a Makeshift tank taken by Ebere Vivian Akuche

I have never been so scared, I was sweating, I was shaking but I couldn’t voice it out.

Somebody should have seen this, but why are they not saying anything?

As my eyes kept going back to the Jerry can, some of the other passengers seating beside me caught me staring in the direction of the jerry can but just fixed their eyes on the road after a momentary glance.

After that scary experience, I saw these makeshift tanks countless times after that, even marked the faces of drivers who carried them around, I just couldn’t live through that experience again. I had sometimes managed to avoid them though but I still somehow found myself in others. And when I happened to enter such Danfo buses, I literarily would count the seconds and would keep turning to look in the direction of these makeshifts if only to pacify myself.


Picture of a Makeshift tank taken by Ebere Vivian Akuche

Just this week as I was heading home from work, from far off I saw a bus that was just taking passengers. So after seeing the driver in front of the vehicle I knew this bus was free of such makeshifts because of course I had marked their faces.

So I went in and sat comfortably but on turning there was the makeshift setup again. You could see that the pipe passing through this Jerry can was relatively new. I was just dumfounded, I was shocked. It was so depressing that I just had to sit through the journey not one time looking back. It was as if this new Jerry can with the relatively new pipe passing through it mocked at me, as if it to say, 'Do you think you can run away from me, young lady?!'

Apparently as this danfos keep plying our already bad roads every other time they deteriorate, they need servicing, maintenance but nothing like that happens. Their side mirrors are first to always get missing, (well.. we all know this) then other parts follow. What happens with their fuel tanks I do not know.

I had at one point blamed the drivers but I thought the better of it. They are victims too, victims of a system that takes more than it ever gives.

Another day, another tale. May we again see the better of it.

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