My Experience in North Nigeria!! Episode 1

EPISODE 1: SABO, MIDNIGHT, AND THE BED ABOVE MY HEAD

There was a time my granny and I set out on one of those journeys that never really ends when it should. We were traveling to Funtua, deep in northern Nigeria, with loads of gifts and goodwill packed tighter than sense inside old Ghana‑must‑go bags. We reached Sabo in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, early enough, but road journeys don’t respect your clock. We waited. And waited. Evening came. Night fell. Still no vehicle going straight to Funtua.

By the time a trailer finally showed up close to midnight, the motor park looked like a ghost market. The driver said he was heading toward Zaria and could pass through Funtua. That was enough hope for us. My granny agreed immediately she was used to hardship and long roads. I followed, even though my chest was already tight with fear.

Inside the trailer was not really “inside.” It was the back wooden, dusty, smelling of diesel and old journeys. There was a bed fixed behind the driver, and another wooden platform above it. Apart from my granny and me, two big, heavy‑set women climbed in. They laughed loudly, confident and unbothered, like people who had made that journey many times.

One of them pointed up and said she would sleep on the top bed. Then she looked at me and said I should join them. My heart jumped into my throat. All I could imagine was the wood snapping in the middle of the night and somebody’s full weight crashing down on me. I forced a smile and refused politely, choosing to stay on the lower bed with my granny.

As the trailer started moving, my body was there but my mind was running ahead of us falling, breaking, shouting. Every bend felt like danger. Every vibration felt like the top bed loosening. I kept thinking, What if she falls? What if it lands on me? Sleep refused to come. I watched darkness slide past the open back of the trailer, holding onto my granny’s wrapper like it could protect me.

Then, somewhere along the road, the trailer coughed, slowed, and finally died. Just like that. In the middle of nowhere.