Every place has its own culture and means of transportation. For example, if you are in London, you’ll most likely use trains (the tube) and red buses.
One thing that makes Ibadan stand out is the Nissan Micra cars painted in small red and yellow and their drivers.
I studied in Ibadan for almost seven years. Here are five things I noticed Micra drivers must do:
1. Six people squeezed into a tiny car
Have you seen how small a micra is? The worst is the front seat that sits two grown adults. Well, no matter how uncomfortable it is, you have to sit in the car packed like a sardine. If you want some resemblance of comfort, you must pay for two seats.
2. Dirty unwashed cars
These drivers and their cars are allergic to the car wash. Don’t make the mistake of wearing a crisp white shirt and entering a Micra. By the time they are done with you, your shirt will be brown. You can also trust Ibadan passengers to enter with all manner of food and livestock. Suffice it to say, their cars are filthy.
3. Insults and curses
An Ibadan Micra driver will park on the road to engage in an insult contest with another road user or passenger. Their version of road rage never involves actual violence but cursing people and their forefathers, mothers, and children and telling them they will not make it in their lives in loud Yoruba.
4. Ask passengers not to enter without change
If you do not have change, you cannot enter their vehicle. One cardinal rule about Micra drivers is that they will never have change. Compared to a city like Lagos, where the drivers might (though not always) help you look for change, Ibadan Micra drivers will always tell you to “Wole pelu change.”
5. The driver in Ankara
Have you seen a Micra driver wearing shirts, trousers, or other formal clothes that are relics of colonialism? A proper Micra driver will be wearing an old Ankara kaftan and pants as a true son of the soil.
So, there it is, the characteristics of an Ibadan Micra cab and their drivers.