Lagos on a rainy day

glowing in the rain

There are days when nature appears to conspire against an established program. One such day happened recently, I had an appointment at 11am on the Mainland, in Mushin. At 9.30am the wind started to blow heavily, ridding trees of old and shaky leaves. Palm trees, too, were loosing their branches and one had to be careful not to be hit by them. Plastic bags were flying high. The sky was darkening rapidly, making one wonder if the sun had an eclipse. Then the rain started pouring heavily erasing the skyline from the horizon. This went on for a while but I did not want to miss my appointment. Somehow I managed to get onto the car, soaked from the short span of time being away from my umbrella.
The road progressively filled with water as gutters could not handle the amount of water delivered by the storm. Thunder joined the party too. Lightnings pierced the clouds and preceded the thunder by a few seconds. Traffic was not too thick, most people had wisely postponed their movement for after the rain.

a dark start

The drive on Third Mainland Bridge was uneventful, people drove with warning lights. A couple of cars were stranded either because of a flat or exploded tyre or a broken-down engine. Their drivers could either wait inside their car until the end of the rain or face it. It is not good to stay for too long stuck on the bridge, but the weather was definitely a good criminal deterrent.

bumper to bumper

Things got more interesting as we neared Oshodi, the motorway was flooded with large pools of rain water. The road was even completely submersed in places. This created temporary go-slows as not even the worst weather can tame the impatience of Lagosian drivers, especially those danfo (minibus) drivers hoping to take advantage of any millimeter to create havoc by forcing themselves into the traffic with no respect for other vehicles. Danfo drivers are the self-appointed kings of Lagos roads, with no masters, that is, except if a VIP convoy is around with mobile police staff clearing the way from the populace to let the convoy pass. More cars were stranded as a results of punctures. As my driver usually says, the rain brings all sorts of sharp objects on the road (which do very effectively increase the chance of punctures).

flash street-river

As we left the motorway to find our way into Mushin, the narrower streets looked like water channels. Roadside market businesses were either being temporarily left unattended under plastic covers or their owner had decided to stay wrapped in condom-like rain ponchos and possibly under large umbrellas (normally used for the sun). Everyone was looking for a shelter and only a few braved the streets under water. The rain ended-up easing-up but the streets were still full of water, ferrying loads of garbage.
We finally reached our destination on time and safely.

rain cover

what needs to be done, needs to be done