6AM in Lagos Traffic

I am one of the crazy drivers in Lagos. Well, not in the reckless ‘Don’t let them know your next move’ sense of it, but being on these roads for as long as I have, I’m beginning to believe there’s at least an element of ‘tanshere craze’ in every Lagos driver. Some days you’re on the clock and someone ahead of you is driving sluggishly, so you blast your horn at them like a maniac, and when you finally get past them, you slow down a bit to express your disgust by giving them the look. On other days, you’re enjoying an easy ride and the person behind you is blasting their horn at you, and you’re thinking “Who be this one? Fly now”. It’s a matter of perspective. You’re a crazy driver to someone else.

However, one intriguing thing for me is how the actions of one driver ahead of you can cause you so much delay that the entire traffic moves ahead of you. A car on an adjacent lane can shoot twenty cars ahead of you in a matter of seconds, just because some guy ahead of you is looking for change to buy Gala and Lacasera. This is very relatable to our work experience and careers. You might have to watch your peers move so quickly ahead of you perhaps because of the company (lane) that you’re in or even because of the bosses or management ahead of you. Don’t we all know this story? It’s infuriating. And you think to yourself, I should have taken the other lane, or I should have moved to another company or department, and so on. The idea is that actions or lack of action of those ahead of us can delay our progress and arrival, and this can create a form of dissatisfaction or even regret. Sometimes, you’re able to switch to the other lane and gain traction, but you keep thinking, “I should have been miles ahead by now”.

This concept crosses my mind every day on 3MB. Today, I realized that no matter what delay this causes me, I eventually arrive at my destination. When I get to discuss ideas like this with young professionals like myself, I say “That Head of Marketing role that you desire so much, one day there will be no experts ahead of you. You will be the experienced professional the organizations are looking for, as long as you make sure that no matter what the delay is, you’re moving forward. You’re doing all the right things. You’re getting exposure and experience. You’re upskilling, and one day you’ll be in the class of experience and knowledge that the market seeks”.

This is not to say that delay is not detrimental. It is. Your car can overheat while you’re in traffic, but this will only happen if you’re driving a faulty car. Another crazy driver might hit you. Some things you can control, some things you can’t. When you cannot control the wind, you can at least set the sail.

Let me tie it up. The moral of this story is don’t drive a faulty car. Hahahaha, it’s not. But then, there are times when a faulty car is the only car available.