Nigeria: Offa and Kabba - Weep Not for Rebels

Locations in Nigeria can be far for a traveller. We raced, crawled, twisted and bumped across potholes in Kogi, Ekiti and Kwara states, in travelling from Abuja to Offa and back: each run lasting nine hours. As a youth, a Greyhound Bus had hurtled us from New York on the Atlantic coastline; across America's landmass, to San Francisco on the Pacific Ocean. It lasted 72 hours. Brief stops recharged our legs and mouths. The land sat, saluted, wore changing garments, and mocked our human transience.

On our road to Offa, several themes hit at us. A constant refrain was Wole Soyinka's lyric: "I love my country, I no go lie; na inside am I go live and die ...You push me, I push you, I no go go!". Fear of a car crash - as opposed to relative certainty of riding in a train or a big comfortable bus - bashed at our waking moments. A pothole hit or dribbled around rebuked decisions made in the 1970s against developing railway transport. Road lobbyists and car importers had won. Critics curse heavy trucks breaking backs of asphalt roads meant for lighter motor traffic. History's footprints mocked our fears.

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