The fight on public transport ended in laughter.

Whenever I have to travel, especially when it is a long-distance journey, I get excited, and oftentimes, I prefer using the rear seat of the Sienna bus. Occasionally I get to travel using a 14- or 18-seater bus, which is often not convenient as it is usually slower. Most of my long journeys have been by public transport, with the advantage that it is cheaper and less stressful. I get to enjoy the view of the roads, take naps, and buy things through the window.

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An interesting journey I experienced sometime last year was one I embarked on from Lagos to Ilorin, which was about 5 hours by road. The journey was very smooth and uneventful up until we reached Ogbomosho, which was just about 40 minutes drive from Ilorin. Some passengers had alighted, and the drivers, being who they are, opted to pick up more passengers so as to make some extra cash. It's discomforting when you have some strange passengers join you in transit, but who really cares? We are not likely to know one another beyond that journey, except on rare occasions. This particular journey was via an 18-seater bus, and after picking up some passengers in Ogbomosho, a man mistakenly hit a small boy in the face during the process of him settling down on his seat.

The incident caused the mother to flare up, and unfortunately, the man was the saucy type. Verbal aggression ensued, which almost translated to a physical one. The other passengers kept pleading with both parties independently and as one to let matters slide, but they wouldn't listen. They even threatened to trace each other home after the journey. We asked if each other knew each other before the journey, but, surprisingly, no. At some point, the driver wanted to intervene, but we pleaded with him to face the road. Sincerely, I had to say a word of prayer because curses kept flying around. We realized that our pleading with the duo party only fueled the reactions, and eventually we let both continue with each other. I kept my head safe to prevent any stray punches or slaps from landing on my face. In most fights that occur, it's the people that come to intervene that get injured, and I was not going to be that victim.

We ignored both of them, and they continued at each other like cat and mouse, or, would I say, dog and cat. After a few minutes, when they noticed we had ignored them, the fight began to die down, and like a miracle, what was a torrent of abuse and fight became laughter as both began to make jokes, even asking each other where they had come from. It was at that point that we, the audience, and referees began to interfere. We concluded that both of them were a perfect match for each other if they were not already married. Anyone coming between them would be doing that to their own detriment.

We were glad that the journey ended on a friendly note.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.