How does it feel to get an Island Job?
The feeling is beyond the embers of this world.
To tell your girlfriend you work with a multinational or your eager family members that you are attached to a company across the mass ocean waters bordering the rich from the poor is a testimony and match made in Heaven in present day Lagos, Nigeria.
Where the Lekki concession toll gate fare has been increased and the freshness breathing air from over the seas bring; you can be sure that the gods in fact are truly in your favour.
Job with low pay.
This was how I felt two years ago, when I got linked up to a job on the Island. I was happy that my life would change for good. I went for the interview which came in three stages. The end result was a job with very low pay. So low that it came with no gain. The money could not cover 50% of my transport.
So I understood the plight of the young lady who sat a row before me in this bus. A bus which I astonishingly found at Igando bus stop when I had initially planned a detour to Ikotun to get a direct CMS bus.
Never has a direct CMS bus been at Igando by after 6am. And here is where the dilemma of scouting an Island job is shrouded.
Ineffective transport schemes and alternate routes.
This lady who lamented how she switched location from Oshodi to Igando. She was quite frustrated by the turn of events she had gone through. Not just about distance but also about transport. How then does an Island employee living further down the Igando- Iyana-Iba axis survive?
According to reports I gathered in this CMS bus at Igando early this morning, the best option is going to Iyana-Iba, boarding a "Cele" bus and taking the final journey to the Island. Alternatively, taking a bus to Iyana-Iba will cast all your worries away as you are sure to get a direct CMS bus to the Island from there which is quite, smooth and affordable.
"The trip goes for #300. #150 to Cele and the remainder to CMS, however a direct bus to CMS will require the sum of #250," the heavily built man sitted next to me said.
He was well built but friendly. He initially accused me of failing to respond to his greetings earlier on. While I was plugged in minding my business like all Lagos people do.
Most people that lived in Igando and its environs preferred going to Ikotun to board a bus. The only problem was the price; as I was about to board a bus myself at Ikotun before deciding to take the bus at Igando.
The price range for CMS from Ikotun ranges between #400 to #500. One middle aged woman gave an account of how a bus once charged #600.
"Everybody came down from the bus. We refused to enter."
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This testimony matched the one I got yesterday while I was boarding a bus from Ikotun to Oshodi. The person who sat close by me complained about the poor unstable rates Ikotun drivers are notorious for.
"This is the only axis that has no specific price tag. It ranges from as low as #100 to even #300. This changes occur however and whenever the drivers themselves decide." The man was so angry that he complained bitterly.
However there is an opposing story to the debate on the Ikotun story. A working class woman who obviously did not expect to see a CMS bus at Igando by 6am thereabouts remarked that buses bound for CMS depart Igando 6am on the dot.
Contrary to other opinions, She stated that the key to getting to your destination on time as well as beating the price is time.
"In that same Ikotun where they charge as much as #600 per trip; they also collect #250 around 5:00, 5:30am."
The other passengers seemed to be in shock. So she had to reiterate her position to save them from imminent heart attack or heart burn as the case seemed.
"I have entered it for #250 before around 5:30am. They will even be begging you sef to collect."
And there it was, the full testimony. It never seemed like she was lying. She thundered her position with so much authority. One that defied all testimonies and pushed the obvious fact back into our faces; that we were being duped by unscrupulous bus drivers. On a daily basis.
Written by Joseph Olaoluwa.
Joseph Olaoluwa is an award-winning poet Journalist, script writer, and Social Media expert. He has a strong passion for arts, especially poetry. He currently writes Features for the Nigerian Standard Newspaper in Jos. He also freelances for the Nation newspapers and is a Pulse Blogger as well. He tweets not too frequently @theminentmuyiwa.