After a week of being driven on the same route through Lagos to get to the Cadbury Nigeria factory my colleague and I were ready for the weekend, it was our chance to see a little more of the area! We were very grateful to be taken out for a day by our Nigerian colleagues, because we had been advised not to leave the hotel alone.
On Saturday morning it was about 35 degrees and the rain was torrential. We began our journey to Badagry, a village on the Benin border, where Africans were forced into ships to begin their horrific life of slavery. After our fascinating tour the rain had cleared up so we headed to the beach to have a bite to eat.
We got back into the car to begin our drive back to the hotel. It was meant to be about a one-hour journey but turned into four. The roads had been completely flooded by the rainfall earlier in the day and the traffic was atrocious. Imagine three lanes of cars going the same way down a two-lane dirt road, with cars squeezing past in the opposite direction. Our driver skillfully navigated the way through side roads and alleyways to avoid the heavier traffic. We watched some memorable scenes through the car windows, the most memorable of which, was the two men and a wriggling goat overtaking us on a moped.
We were getting towards the end of the journey when our driver realised there was an opportunity to Miss some traffic by driving down a small side road. It seemed like a good idea until we got to the end of it and were faced by a crowd of youths that had set up a road block. They surrounded the car and were shouting at us aggressively. The driver and one of our colleagues stepped out of the car, as if this happened every day, and began a shouting match with them. After a few minutes they moved the block and allowed us to continue on our way. It was explained that it was quite usual for kids to block roads and expect money from those driving through; this time they were unsuccessful though.
At the end of our two-week trip to Nigeria, I was glad to get back on a plane to London. It has, however, been one of my most memorable trips whilst working in Group Audit.
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