#EnuguCorperSeries: Discovering Enugu
by Stella Inabo
Enugu.
A few months ago, the Coal city was just another Nigerian state to me.
Now I call her home and I am learning to navigate her roads. This essay chronicles my experiences and impressions of transit in Enugu city.
A city of open doors
A city makes impressions on all humans that come in through her gates.
I arrived in Enugu city on a bus with an open door.
I was seconds away from calling out to the driver to alert him about the door when I realized that all around me were buses with open doors and passengers sitting by the door and clinging to the door frames for dear life.
In the past, I had been told that the roads in Eastern Nigeria were narrow when compared to the roads in Northern Nigeria. But I did not see why anyone would say that especially when I passed through the roads at Ogui Junction.
As many as three cars rode on the roads on each lane without running over any pedestrians.
At the center of the roundabout at this junction, sat three figures that looked very much like angels with wings raised to the sky. The black sculpture was surrounded by lush grass and protected by a circle of raised bars that let you see them but not approach them.
Moving around Enugu city, I have discovered more sculptures that catch my attention. Usually, I crane my neck to stare at them even when the bus has moved past. The most notable ones for me so far have been;
- The three angels at Ogui junction
- The sculpture of a drummer at Otigba Juncture (which means drummer in Igbo)
- The sculpture of a truck pusher at Mgbemene.
- The statue of the Unknown soldier at Okpara Square.
I am yet to summon courage, find the time, support and adequate funding to photograph them in all their glory.
New Layout
The word, Enugu means “hill top”.
The roads of the state crisscross, rise and fall in a manner that is dizzying and surprising.
For locals, the roads may not fill them with wonder but for the first few times I journeyed across them, I was fascinated by them.
The road peaks and dips at New Haven Junction and Ogui Road close to Otigba Junction.
There is also a steady incline as one moves past ESUT gate to Nkpokiti which always makes me feel as though I am in a free fall.
Each road is in a way defined by the buildings surrounding it.
The roads at Otigba Junction, New Haven and Ogui Junctionhave a refined look to them. Wide and clean, with upscale stores, petrol stations, supermarkets, and plazas that line their sides.
The roads at Agbani and Ogbete have a different feel. They seem busier and have older looking structures and the roads seem narrower because of how busy it gets.
I get frustrated at Mayor, because of the market that has set up shop on the sidewalks leaving me to battle for passage with Keke riders that believe in squeezing their vehicles into the smallest spaces possible to move through traffic gridlocks.
The good thing about the market is the fact that you can pick up everything to prepare a hearty meal as you walk through.
Okwo-ugbo
Enugu city has crazy drivers. Private cars, commercial buses, and tricycles popularly called Keke that struggle for space on the road, dangerously outmaneuvering each other.
Drivers glare at each other and sometimes engage in heated verbal arguments spewed out in Igbo. I usually do not understand a word of it but the intensity of their emotions always seems hilarious to me.
Every day is a struggle to stay alive when crossing the road or even when taking a leisure stroll.
I have seen drivers recklessly speed down a road with bumps, potholes, and pedestrians for no apparent reason.
The bus drivers find ways to insert themselves and their vehicles where there seemed to be no space.
They are living proofs of the popular saying, “where there is a will, there is a way”.
Cars cut into the front of others and the offending driver is unapologetic and continues on his way like nothing has happened. I feel that the traffic lights in the city bring order to the madness. The cars line up at the roundabout on Garden Avenue for a few sane minutes before the green lights herald the continuation of the pandemonium.
Finding myself
Getting lost in a new city happens to the best of us. So far, I have gotten lost only twice and at both times, asking for directions proved helpful. Directions from kind strangers have been a lifesaver to me.
To get around town, I now rely on reading the signs on the bus stops. Green and square, they are scattered along the roads and serve as landmarks for me to avoid getting lost.
As I read the signs, I discovered some places had very peculiar names such as Dustbin bus stop.
Another place with a strange name is the Holy Ghost Park. I found out that Holy Ghost park got its name from a nearby church but I still do not know why Dustbin Bus stop is called that (there is no heap of trash nearby).
Every day I discover new and fascinating things about Enugu as I move along its roads.
I look forward to a time when I will not need to use the signs at the bus stops to know where I am headed and become the kind stranger giving directions.
