Danfo tales: Surviving Lagos as a bus driver

Danfo, Korope, and Keke, the primary public transport vehicles, dominate the state's roads, each in different models. The typical danfo bus is a 14-seater Volkswagen Vanagon

In Lagos, time doesn't wait for anyone. 

The city awakens before every mosque's Fajr prayer, announcing the break of dawn with a resounding "Allahu Akbar" from loudspeakers. 

At 5:30 am, Valentine Chidera is already on the road in his Suzuki Every mini-bus, locally known as Korope. As a bus driver, his day begins as he departs from his home in Ejigbo, Orisunbare axis in Lagos, picking up passengers bound for Egbeda.

In the early hours, passengers are often lost in their thoughts, contemplating work or family matters. Upon reaching Egbeda, Valentine adds more passengers and heads towards Ikeja. 

It's now past 6 am, and Lagos is alive with various sounds — the calls of bus drivers and conductors, the hurried footsteps of those catching buses for work, and half-asleep school children crying for more food in their lunch boxes as they struggle with their mothers, who drag them to the school gates.

Danfo, Korope, and Keke, the primary public transport vehicles, dominate the state's roads, each i…