Trapped in a BRT. Help!

I watched again yesterday as another molue BRT bus was loaded and dispatched. As has become the norm along the Ikeja-Iyana Ipaja route which I ply regularly, the bus was OVER-loaded. So much so that the men who were loading and dispatching the buses began to admit people through the exit (rear) door into the already crowded vehicle. When a few of the passengers already standing, tightly packed inside protested against being inconvenienced, the official in question commented to those around him, 'Some people are wicked o!' He simply couldn't relate with why 'some people' were hesitant about being harassed at being stuffed like sardines in a bus, for an hour-long drive.

I mentally shook my head (I did not have the strength to comment, let alone facilitate unnecessary bodily movement).

CovertPhoto: Inside the bus

The man's utter insensitivity to the plight of the passengers let alone the reputation of his organization or even the hazards of the bad practice he was facilitating, completely bewildered me.

I had always blamed this development solely on the bus operators but it abruptly dawned on me at that moment that commuters are equally culpable - actually the Bulk portion of blame.

It is attitudes such as this from both concerned quarters - service providers and service consumers - that will truncate the BRT vision, if unchecked. No system collapses abruptly. In my line of work, I am daily confronted with the knowledge that for every accident that occurs, there are Causal and Contributory factors. An effect (mishap, accident, failure) may often be averted or mitigated despite the cause, if contributory factors are eliminated. Hence I preserve hope in spite of the ominous collapse of this laudable initiative, especially in view of the sad history of similar initiatives in the past.

So back to the question, not of who to blame, but how the blame should be apportioned.
Must Nigerians always be docile, accepting and even proponents of the unsavoury conditions they daily encounter? Why do we so easily resign to fate and smother our faith? The BRT situation is only one manifestation of this trend.

On the said day, I had even been standing at the bus stop for about an hour waiting for a bus, in a long queue that alternately thinned and coalesced according to the strength and/or patience of the other commuters (a discussion for another day). When the bus eventually arrived, we boarded until it was also overloaded. Of course, I had ensured I obtained a window seat so as to distance myself from the anticipated confusion in the aisle. My expectations were not disappointed. Shortly after departure from the terminal, the bus stopped once again, apparently to take on more passengers!

Of course, there were the few grunts of protest, a few outbursts (more of impatience than anger), even a joke or two about where the driver intended to place the new entrants. I was not amused in the least and I broke my usual reticence to voice a protest. I was tempted to start a revolt. But confrontation has never really been one of my strongpoints, much less physical ones.
There's only so much a one-man army can accomplish, I consoled myself, especially if those with whom you share the cause are complacent about their lot. But there will be days when logic will have to submit to brute force. So I will prepare for such a time.

Another CovertPhoto: Jam-packed bus

On the part of the government and other relevant authorities, it baffles me that they would allow such a worthy enterprise to be mismanaged and this, not for want of evidence of these lapses requiring attention or a dearth of ideas of courses of action to take. Measures as simple as placing load restrictions on the buses could make a world of difference. I don't know if such exists. The franchisees being more concerned with their profit margins than with quality service delivery, are lackadaisical about the welfare of their customers. I am not privy to the terms of the contract between the State government and the operators but I believe certain aspects of it are being violated. From my observations, the drivers are rewarded on a sort of quota system based on the volume of traffic they move daily. I might have assumed wrongly but it was just my observation. This would explain why drivers would allow their vehicles to be so precariously loaded, in total violation of safety concerns.

To be continued...