Tinubu recalls how naval officer slapped him in US over taxi fare

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has recalled an incident that led to him getting slapped by a naval officer when he was a taxi driver in the United States.

The President gave the revelation as he shared stories of his early days in the U.S. in a biography published on the back of a national daily.

The biography titled, ‘Tinubu: My life as gypsy cab driver in the US’, was authored by Mike Awoyinfa, a seasoned journalist.

According to Tinubu's narration, he worked as a taxi driver in Chicago back in the day, picking passengers from the airport to their destinations only because he was unlicensed.

The President said he had deferred his admission by five months and used the period to do the driving job in order to keep himself financially afloat before he went to school.

Meanwhile, Tinubu had an encounter with a naval officer passenger who slapped him for unintentionally overcharging him (the officer).

His narration goes thus: “We got an unregistered used car commonly called Gypsy, which we ran as a taxi. We operated at the airport where we picked passengers, and not anywhere else, like the hotel because it was forbidden for unlicensed cab drivers to do so.

“We did that for a while to raise some money. Bolaji went to Tennessee, while I headed for Chicago.

“I was supposed to have started schooling in April. I deferred it till September in order to have more money. Immediately I got to Chicago, I went straight to Richard Daley College. It was very interesting.

“I was able to pay for my apartment and tuition fees at Chicago State University. I supplemented that by doing different menial jobs like door guard and security man.”

Speaking further about the incident, the President said the naval officer he carried responded with a slap on his face because he overcharged him, as his destination was a nearby.

“As a cab driver, one experience I will never forget was when I over-charged a naval officer who was returning to the country. It was not intentional,” Tinubu said.

“Apparently, I didn’t know the direction. There was no GPRS in those days to locate directions. So, he gave me the direction to his house in a Virginia suburb.

“I gave him the price and the man responded with a slap to my face. He said I should know the correct price to charge to the location he mentioned. He slapped me and gave me the money.”