I came into Lagos last week and when I told my cousin that I was going to Alausa to see someone, he said “Be careful o. Mind how you drive o. Lagos state government now has CCTV cameras that they use to catch bad drivers.”
CCTV, in Lagos? When I left Lagos for America almost 20 years ago, there was nothing like that. Anyway, I told my cousin that I would be alright because me, I am used to CCTVs.
See, when I first landed in the US, I felt like I was a gold fish in a bowl, everywhere you turned, there was a camera.
I thought the Americans were just overdoing things, until I got so used to it I didn’t even notice them anymore.
I was once a cab driver, of course, every cabbie has stories to tell and I do have plenty but one stands out.
So, there was this day I picked two guys from downtown Chicago at a few minutes shy of midnight. If you know enough about Chicago, you will understand. They were young, they were drunk, they also happened to be naval officers but were in mufti. They hailed me and when they told me their destination, I almost refused because they were heading back to their base, which was at the other end of town.
They were raucous, you know because like I said, they were drunk. Anyway, so there I was, a black man from Nigeria, wondering if these whiteys would be able to pay their fare. I had driven rowdy lots before who ran away as soon as we got to the destination.
Anyway, as we were going, say after about ten minutes into the ride, something just told me to ask them by what means they were going to pay me, by card or cash? They said cash. I took a good look at the one to my right, then I turned around to continue driving.
They asked me why I was demanding to know by what means they would pay by. I told them I had been robbed of my fare by some people before, so I just wanted to be sure how they meant to pay.
Again, something made me ask another question. I faced the one on my right, the other was behind and I could only view his face through the rear view mirror and it was night, so visibility was poor. I asked again, if they were aware that it would be a pretty sum, they answered in the affirmative. I said ok, so I settled in for the long drive, unmindful of the noise and guffaws going on behind me. I was just praying they wouldn’t be violent because how would I have defended myself?
We got to the naval base well after midnight. They directed me to drive through their gates and pointed to where I should park. I drove in and parked but before I could turn around to tell them what the meter said and ask for my money, the two had opened the back doors and disappeared into the night behind a tall building.
My sister, I was almost in tears. It was a cold winter night. I may not have made as much as I would, if I had refused to carry these boys but after that long drive, of almost an hour, same time drive back, I felt so cheated.
I just stood there for a long time, then I said, ok, no problem, this is life. I entered my cab and began to drive off.
Now, shortly before I got to the main gate, I saw an officer, dressed in naval uniform, walking with such precision, you know the way military men are. He was elderly, he was also a white man.
I stopped my cab, greeted him and asked for his help.
He stopped to listen to me. I then told him what happened, how I brought in two young men and how they disappeared behind the building not paying me. The officer asked me if I would be able to recognize the men if I saw them, I said, I got a good view of one of them.
So the officer asked me to wait and entered into the building.
Now, the building was glass and the area was well lit, so I could pretty much see him. He went behind what looked like a reception desk, there was no one at the reception, the officer was looking at what I assumed to be a monitor screen because I saw light reflected on his face.
After a while, he came back and asked me to drive behind him while he hopped into a Humvee, that is a military vehicle. It was packed just outside the building.
I drove slowly behind him. At the back of the glass building, we passed a few more buildings then came to what looked like a camp, with hundreds of tents in a huge open space.
He stopped his Humvee and I also stopped my cab and came out. There were hundreds of officers in their undies, you know, guys undressed maybe for a bath or in their sleepwear. I began to scan the faces of the officers as they went about their thing, then, I saw one of my ‘runaway passengers’, he had changed into white shorts and white vest. I immediately called the officer and pointed – ‘There, one of them!’
Immediately the young officer turned and saw my face, his countenance changed. His officer could see that he recognized me, so he summoned him.
He walked the young officer towards a clearing. I overheard him asking him if he knew me. The young officer couldn’t deny it. He then asked him to go get his partner. In a few minutes, both of them came out from one of the tents.
We all drove back to the glass building.
When we got there, the senior officer asked the two young officers if they paid me my fare, they both said they did.
He then asked them why I would then say I wasn’t paid, they said they didn’t know why I did that. At this point, I was perplexed.
Then the senior officer asked them how they paid me.
One of them said he made the payment, and that he paid me cash.
The officer then asked him to demonstrate how he paid.
He said when he got down from my cab, he came to the drivers’ side brought out his wallet and paid me.
My sister, at this point, I was just like, this is bullshit! When did you pay me? How much?
Then the senior officer did one thing, he took the two junior officers behind the reception desk I had mentioned before, apparently, there was a cctv camera covering the area I dropped them. I don’t even know how the two idiots missed that.
Anyway, the senior officer then asked them first to apologise to me and told me in their presence that the Navy would pay me back plus cover for my time wasted. He sent them away but before then he told me that I must press charges against the officers. He said they were totally unprofessional and that the US Navy was trying to get rid of bad eggs like those.
He told me I would be paid for the time I spend coming for the court case and that I would be paid for the time they took from my work.
After another apology, he took down my details.
It didn’t look like I had any choice, even though I told the officer I would rather just collect my money and go. But he insisted that the cctv camera clearly showed they were dishonest, unprofessional…he listed two other thingsthat I had no idea were offences.
Let me cut it short.
Indeed, a few days later, I got a payment cheque from the military. Then mails and calls about the court case began.
But omo, at that point, I just wanted to be left alone in peace, jare, who wants to press charges?
I appeared once but afterwards, I thought the young officers had been through enough. I made a few enquires and was told I could decide not to show up, that way, the two officers may still be able to keep their jobs, so I stopped responding to the naval calls and summons.
This taught me a lesson, there I was complaining about the intrusive CCTV, I mean, how would I have been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I wasn’t paid?
(Series written and edited by Peju Akande and based on true stories)