Discretion: this entry may be difficult for some people to read...read at your own discretion.
This is a blog entry that I wish I never would have had to write...but life happens the way it does and so I too deal with it this way...
In Nigeria the amount of people is much...and in Lagos there's around 18-20 MILLION people and considering that Lagos is not the hugest city in the world...space is tight. So when you are driving or walking or whatever, there are always a ton of people everywhere. The only time that Lagos seems quiet is at night, but only in certain areas. I live in one of those "quiet areas." and traffic at night is not heavy at all on most roads. Since traffic is not heavy, this allows for free roads for drivers as well as people who cross the road. There are no cross walks anywhere and overhead walkways are only found on a few major roads...so if one wants to cross the road, one has to book it across the road. Since many Nigerians are used to crossing the road, some make close calls and try to cross in small spaces between zooming cars. Crossing the road at night however is easier and supposed to be LESS dangerous. But last week Sunday, this was not the case.
As I was returning home late on Sunday night, I was in a cab and the road was free. I was about 20 min away from home. We were zooming along a fairly major road and there was just one car ahead of us to our right...not far ahead but maybe 30 feet or so. As we drove a girl (maybe in her 20's) jetted across the road. As she crossed she ran in front of the car ahead of us and had one foot on the curb but seemed to hesitate or something and the car didn't break or swerve as if they hadn't seen her and she was hit. As this was happening I saw it happening and begin shouting "NO NO NO NO!!" but it continued to happen right before my eyes. Her body flew over the car and tumbled onto the road bouncing and rolling. Her limbs were in positions that were un-natural and her body folded and flopped around as if she were a rag doll. Things flew out of her pocket and a shoe flew off. The car that hit her screeched to a stop...but the cab I was in just zoomed on and said "she is dead oh...the girl don die" as if he has seen this thing many times before...I wanted to look back or stop...but i was in too much shock to say anything or to move...I couldn't take my hands from my eyes until I arrived back home...but by then I was sobbing and shaking.
I am very sad to have shared this experience...and so many thought have been racing thru my mind since I have witnessed this horrific event. It is so sad...but then life continues...as if nothing happened. I can't imagine what the driver went through and is now going through or what the girls family is going through. So many questions keep coming to my mind like; "why didn't she wait to cross, there weren't many cars...if she had waited" or "why did she hesitate?" or "where was she coming from and where was she going?" "why didn't the driver slow down?" or "why was the driver going so fast and driving so close to the curb?" or "did the driver even see her?" I guess I will never really know any of these answers and just pray that all involved will somehow find peace after what has happened.
Life is so short and it can be taken away any moment...it has gotten me thinking about life and the people in my life and what I am doing with my life...and this event has made me feel grateful for my blessings...for family and friends, for God and his Grace and Love, for safety, comfort, food, work, happiness and so on. I am truly blessed with so many things and this event has pushed me to want to continue to work on myself and use my gifts to help others and to be a blessing as well as to praise God. I want to love the people in my life and appreciate them and treat them with love and kindness...and I want to always remember to be thankful for my life...because it truly is a gift and I should cherish that!
In the end...I pray that no one will ever have to see what I saw that night...I pray that no one has to experience what happened either...And in the end, life always goes on even if sometimes the events that shock us or sadden us seem so unbelievable that you even ask yourself if those things really happened, or if they are part of ones imagination....we will still go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning and live our lives because life stops for no one...so we must just keep going...so that is what I am doing...I am walking on.
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