In 2003 Mad Melon and
Mountain Black released their much anticipated hit song Danfo Driver.A song
that shows the frustrations,pains and the dashed hopes of the danfo driver and
his conductor. Danfo Driver clearly conveys the emotional state of the two
biggest personalities of the Lagos yellow buses;the driver and conductor.As i
listened to the song all i feel is a deep sense of compassion for these two,all i
want to do is reach out to them, understand them and do my best to make the job easier for them,why
you might ask? When you listen or read the wordings of the song you might understand why,here are some of the wordings below;
Lord i am crying out to my soul,
I am a danfo driver,
I was born in the ghetto,
I schooled in the ghetto,
We grew up in the ghetto,
I don't want to be a Don or to be a Danfo driver,
I want to go to Uniben for enough education
I want to go to Uniport for more education
I want to go to Unilag for enough education,
Oh no no no mama NO!,but now i am a danfo driver!
I am a Danfo Driver!
I believe that the Danfo driver and his conductor need help,i believe they are victims of a system that has dashed their hopes and aspirations of life,and in spite of that they work pretty hard to make a living for themselves in some of the harshest working conditions a person can find himself.I think the first step in reaching out and helping the Danfo Driver and his conductor is to show some respect and be as courteous as possible to them when we board their buses.Someone may ask,but they are providing me with service,they should treat me right and respect me?Yes that is true,but frankly speaking the Danfo Driver and his conductor already clearly have greater issues to deal with than trying to provide good service to passengers,check out some of the issues they have to deal with on a daily basis;
- The street urchin or area boy, who is Bent on plucking out a conductors eye if he fails to receive the N50 that he hasn’t worked for,
- The corrupt police officer who is willing to impound the bus if he does not receive the N20 or N50 that he hasn't worked for;
- The No mercy VIO, Lastma officials who are bent on impounding the bus and ensuring you pay the highest fines at the slightest pardonable traffic offence,
- And of course the stress of having to deal with passengers who don’t want to pay bus fares or who pay incorrect bus fare, or who demand they are picked up or dropped off at non –bus stops, or who rain causes and abuses at the driver or conductor at the slightest provocation.
- And finally the stress of driving on the already pressured lagos roads all day from morning till midnight at times.
How can a person stay sane and provide good service under
these conditions? And yet the conductor and driver ensure they help passengers
load their goods into the buses and help off load, they try to return passenger
change, they keep the buses lively at times with gist ,they sometimes are
understandable when a passenger does not have the correct transport fare, they
advice passengers to take it easy and watch okada when alighting from the
buses, they even go out of their way to break traffic rules while dropping off
or picking up passengers.
These little things that they do make me respect these men
and is the basis why i encourage passengers to treat the driver and conductor
with respect, love and compassion ,encourage them,give them a tip,smile at
them,forgive them and thank them ,its the least we can do if we want to stop
the hate on our buses and help make those bus rides enjoyable and safe for all
Nigerians.Appreciate the Danfo boys today!
