7 Books That Will Help You Survive the Boredom of Lagos Traffic

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I recently moved back to Lagos to start a role as an editorial intern at The Republic. After six relatively calm years in Ibadan, working towards a degree at the University of Ibadan, Oyo state, Lagos was jarring. The noise, the infinity of bodies, the ever-thinning air, and most frustrating of all, the traffic. That infamous Lagos traffic which I had been glad to be rid of in Ibadan! Now, because my job is a nine-to-five that requires me to be at the office in Lagos twice every week, I can no longer escape it. Morning and evening, two days a week, I have to sit in a passenger bus crawling through the gridlocked roads of Lagos—sometimes for hours!

As anyone who has ever commuted in Lagos knows, more than being immensely frustrating, Lagos traffic is also incredibly boring. Most people distract themselves with activities like scrolling through social media or catching up on their favourite Netflix series. For me, neither of these activities is quite intriguing enough to distract from the boredom of Lagos traffic. So far, only reading has helped. As soon as the engine starts and the bus begins to roll forward, I open my book and dive in, and seemingly in no time, I am at my destination.