by Olutayo Irantiola
Nigeria is such a peculiar environment because the business template tested and trusted by international institutions and organizations work differently when tested in Nigeria. Many international firms have left Nigeria not just because of the economy but for the “unpalatable” experiences of the representatives of the companies and some “incomprehensible” deals.
The economic dichotomy of Nigeria has evolved into just two- the upper echelon and the masses. The upper echelon have the financial wherewithal to procure a lot of their basic daily needs and also engage the use of domestic aids which includes a driver but the masses are the survivors; they are the ones who do everything within their reach to make ends meet and they are always hoping that they would become great as they fight their way to success.
The survivors will keep thinking of the next set of business to attempt; the next activity that will make him break out of poverty. The survivor will not mind traveling kilometers from the city centre in order to pay a minimal house rent, hopping from one bus to another to and fro an unsecured job. The survivor will not earn his salary on time but he will still not give up; the survivor will have no savings and he would still be fired for not giving his best at work.
The survivors eventually find a way of having multiple streams of income; as such, he has a job from 9am to 5pm and he still find a means of earning some more income before heading home for the night. The survivor will be willing to take up any job that will assist his finance. The survivor will not aim at buying a new car but a salvaged car from overseas just to be a “modern cab driver.”
With the introduction of taxi hailing apps, many survivors have got a new lease of life, people have seen it as a means of augmenting their meagre earnings. Commuters also benefited from this technological innovation, do not need to endlessly wait by the roadside attempting to hail a taxi and they can have an idea of the rate for the trip they are about to embark on per time.
The salvaged cars of various models purchased from the Western countries are registered on these taxi hailing apps. These survivors have devise various ways of maximizing these cars which are meant to fetch them some money. Some survivors engage the service of a driver for the period when they are at work with a profit-sharing model while those who do not want to take risk, become a chauffeur upon close of work and at weekends.
With the recent trend in which drivers of vehicles on the hailing apps are being robbed of their belongings; maimed or murdered, this had send shivers down the spin of enterprising Nigerians. It is disheartening that the inhumanity of man against man keep soaring by the day. The number of people who are seeking legitimate survival keep depleting by the day because of these dastard acts.
It is important to plead with those in the business of unleashing terror on Nigerians to desist. Many young people who have given up on the nation has since migrated to another continent, those who keep looking forward to building their homeland with sweat should not be drained of their blood. Those in search of survivals should not be the endangered species.
