presume!) in response to the insult seemed to work. Soon the other old man at
the back joined in to register his own absolute disapproval of the retro driver’s
utter disregard for old age. The retrodriver looked from one old timer to the
other. Like most trouble makers, all he needed was a decent opportunity to
back down without seeming to lose face; he started his engine and hissed at
them both dramatically.
“Na una old people dey spoil Nigeria.” Naturally, another
argument sprang forth.
“What do you mean? Is it old people like us that engage in 419 and
armed robbery? Look at you, typical young Nigerian, you want to get rich
quick so bad you are ready to beat up somebody your father’s age; yet you say
its old people that are ruining the country.”
“Is it not your generation that destroyed my own generation and
made us like that? You people destroyed our inheritance with your
avarice...till today who rules Nigeria? It’s still you folks, and after so many
decades, what do you have to show...No, you will never admit your own
failings, rather when the next credit card scam artist is uncovered in New York
or when the next girl is deported from Italy’s brothels...you scream blue
murder...our youth lack morals! Hey who taught them all they know and who
failed to teach them all that they don’t know? Who I ask you?”
The driver looked back over his shoulder as he said this, his eyes
bulging out of their sockets with the intensity of his passion. I nodded my
head vigorously lest he felt I had any intentions of countering his views.
Privately, I wondered if he considered me to be in that same ‘wronged’
generation of his, definitely the young gun with the head phones beside me
would have agreed with me that our driver could easily fall into the same
generation as the two men he was arguing with. The young guy was not
interested in any of that, his head bobbed continuously like a metronome to
whatever beat was pumping into his ears while his eyes fed on the goings on
outside the taxi. Perhaps even his was a different generation from mine. The
old men were not finished though. The one by my side addressed me with the
air of one dishing out really good advice.
“This is what happens when people refuse to take home training.
steven felgate
(Steven Felgate)
#1