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China-Africa Trade Information Service
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After about a three-minute wait at Papalanto, we arrived Wole Soyinka
Station (Abeokuta) at 9.35am (a five-minute wait); Ladoke Akintola (Omi-
Adio) at 10.20am (waited for only three minutes). Since Ibadan has two
“stoppable” stations, it was quite gratifying to hear the announcer
mention areas that are close to Omi-Adio so as to help people consider
the best place to disembark, before we reach the “terminus”. Eventually,
we arrived Obafemi Awolowo Station (Moniya) at 10.40am… Praise God.
While the sense of safety and time-keeping protocols are commendable, it
is a little disconcerting that a train trip between Lagos and Ibadan
would take close to three hours to navigate; especially considering the
absence of the usual “go-slow” on road traffic, and the occasional snafu
that can snarl up road transportation.
Well, the return journey was almost as uneventful and peaceful. From our
base in Ibadan, we had planned that we would make allowance for traffic
congestion, and the distance to the nearest station (Moniya). So we took
off fairly early – around 5.35am. Our driver, an energetic middle-aged
man coyly named ‘Alfa Mutairu Flour’ was an expert night-vision motorist
who was able to get us to the station by 6.35am! The day was still fairly
dark, as dawn was quite slow in waking up.
We waited in the unmarked taxi for the NRC staff to open shop.
Fortunately, the “free days” ended a day earlier, so we did not envisage
any hassles. And since Alfa was some kind of fixture at the station, he
was a familiar face to both the staff and other transporters and self-
employed operatives. Ours was one of only three vehicles around, and he
advised us to wait back in the car for the ticketing office and
“checkers” to start work. We could see passengers who needed to process
their tickets, on site, building up a queue around the ticketing office.
The station’s main doors remained shut.
About 6.55am, the officials opened the doors, and motioned holders of
pre-registered online tickets to form a short queue. We joined the queue
at 7.05, and found the officials battling with two hand-held devices
(similar to that used by PoS traders). For some unknown reasons, the QR-
code checking devices refused to work for a few minutes. Good grief!
Shortly, we got underway with checking. They asked for ID cards while
confirming the authenticity of tickets. So we asked, what is the sense in
demanding physical evaluation of a National Identification Number (NIN)
at the station entrance when every intending passenger is compulsorily
requested to input your NIN data in order to generate your individual
profile, alongside any other passenger(s) you desire to make bookings
for? If the system does not confirm the validity of your NIN, you cannot
proceed to make payment. Why the extra stress?
The young man apologised about the matter thus: “It’s all this problems
that is causing it…” He didn’t elaborate, and we didn’t bother to probe
further. After entering, a young man approached us (some call them
‘hustlers’)…he offered to chaperone us, and our affable Alfa nodded his
approval, to indicate he was good to go with. We thanked Alfa Flour
profusely, as he showered prayers on us in his own way. Very nice
gentleman.
We decided to use the offered help with our luggage, as we remembered
what happened in Lagos a few days earlier, when we had to endure the
arduous spectacle of lifting our big suitcase across the long multiple
stairs as the Lagos escalators were not working…we didn’t want to trust
the Ibadan escalators! Fortunately for us, the advantage of that decision
was instant in showing up. The young man ushered us to the VIP section
meant for holders of First Class tickets. That was strange, so we asked:
“Are you sure we’re supposed to be here?” Nothing disparages your
confidence than to be shushed away from a place of honour that you have
implanted yourself uninvited. His gestures were read to be: “So, these
Lagos people don’t know ‘what’s going on’?” We took our lush seats.
The VIP Lounge is a fairly large room adjacent to the main waiting hall.
It is a plush arrangement with large settees – exactly 15 – and bounded
by 14 coffee tables – in cute postmodern designs. There are two
convenience areas (male and female) on either side of the air-conditioned
room, with two toilet rooms each. Surprisingly, the one we entered had a
toilet roll in its closet, and water ran smoothly in the two sinkholes!
All quite neat and odourless. Whaoh!
Throughout our brief stay, about 30 minutes, we were the only occupants
of the swanky environment with a good view of the rail lines. One is at a
loss why the NRC staffers do not consider it important to inform First
Class ticket holders that they may choose to hang out in the VIP Lounge!
A great facility left unused and fallow, because of official neglect or
nonchalance, would soon fall into ruins. Or do they have other shades of
passengers in mind? Well, thank God for our emergency help mate.
At 7.36am, our train moved from the farthest tracks to us, to “re-park”
closer to the exit point, so we would not have to loft our luggage up and
down the mazy stairs. Thank God for little mercies. At exactly 7.47am (10
minutes to its advertised departure time of 7.57), we went onboard Coach
C01. Obviously, this train (named IL2) appeared better equipped than the
last one we came to Ibadan in. It has three TV screens attached to the
roof of the coach, in equal distance apart. An American action movie was
playing, with what looked like Mandarin as its main subtitles (we could
barely see a smaller print in English). It begs the question: why do you
not show Nigerian movies in a Nigerian train ferrying Nigerians across
Nigerian cities – even if the train is ‘officially’ called “Fu Xing”!?
One major plus for us, though, is that the ticket numbering in the coach
tallied with what was on the online platform – unlike the other day. As
usual, we departed Moniya at exactly 8.00am…in an aggressively cold
coach, heading to Lagos. Everything went smoothly – perhaps influenced by
the day being a Monday – and we landed in the Agege Station at 10.07am.
With the Ebute Metta terminal reachable within 20 minutes, our return
train was not only better equipped, it was also a little faster – a
massive 10 minutes, at the very least.
