Just thinking...

Okay, so I'm done for the day but I've decided to stay back at the office for a bit because of the traffic that has built up on Idowu Taylor. Unfortunately for me, my car just can't handle being stuck in traffic for too long anymore and I can't blame the poor thing. After several years of Naija road conditions, it is only by the grace of God that it hasn't totally packed up yet.
Going back to this issue of traffic, it has always baffled me that on most occasions, I can't determine the cause of said traffic by the time I get out of it. I realize that sometimes the condition of our roads makes it impossible for traffic to flow properly but quite frankly, Nigeria is not the only country with bad roads. I agree that our roads may be a lot worse than what may obtain in other nations but it shouldn't have to lead to such horrible traffic situations. I have had the privilege of living in the United States and I can truthfully say that every now and then, I encountered a road with a couple of potholes but I never had to spend 2 hours navigating one stretch or road just because of them. Rush hour in Houston can be just as bad as rush hour on Lagos Island but I still never spent 5 hours on the road just because I wanted to get from Lekki to Ajah.
All this leads me to one question, what are we doing wrong? You see, in civilized countries, when there is a horrible traffic jam, a 2 lane road remains a 2 lane road and everybody moves along at the same pace until traffic clears up. Not so in my beloved country. In Naija, all that needs to happen is a couple of cars slow down ahead of you and a 2 lane road becomes a 6 lane road. This same road that has become 6 lanes in a matter of second will eventually have to converge back into 2 lanes and that is when the trouble starts. Horns start blaring, insults start flying, okadas start weaving in and out increasing people's blood pressure. To crown it all, the so called law enforcement agencies will always be the 1st to break all the rules instead of doing their jobs and maintaining law and order.
Patience, they say, is a virtue. Unfortunately, it seems that virtue was left out when God created Nigerians. I believe that if we could only exercise patience on our roads, it would solve a lot of problems. Cutting corners and trying to be smarter than everyone else will only turn a 10 minute commute into a nightmarish ordeal. If the state divided a road into 2 lanes, please, please and please, let it remain 2 lanes. It may take you a little longer to get home but you will be much saner in the end.

This is "My Limited Understanding" of this situation. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am.