The Adventures Of Oko Ashawo The Uber Driver - 102

Losing one’s valuables can be very traumatizing and knowing that the chances of getting them back are very slim gives a worse feeling....

At the beginning of this month, a friend who came in to Lagos from Ibadan by train asked me to pick her up at the train station in the evening. 

The train usually arrives at the Ebute Meta Terminal by 6:48pm so being around Yaba by 5:30pm, I underestimated the traffic thinking that I would be at the train station within 30 minutes not considering the fact that it was closing hours, which usually comes with lots of traffic.

I had just returned from a short trip where the passenger paid me 20k in cash.

 The money was neatly stashed in my wallet containing other valuables like my original driver’s license, ATM cards, Voter’s card and a few other items. The traffic was unusually heavy that evening due to a broken down truck along the way and  my fuel was running low, so I stopped at a Petrol station to get some fuel.

 I paid the attendant 2k and hurried off .....

I arrived at the terminal at exactly 6:46pm and as I was trying to get a parking space, she called that she had arrived and would need my assistance with some of her luggage. I rushed to help her out and we headed out to the Island.

 I dropped her off around 8:30pm and decided to go home from there.

I branched at one of my favourite Petrol stations to get enough fuel for the next day’s work and asked the attendant to sell 7k worth of petrol. As I tried to make payment, I couldn’t find my wallet.

 I searched everywhere in the car including under the seat and the booth and didn’t find it. At this time, I was already jittery and sweating. In a moment of confusion, I went round the car, searched under it and I didn’t even know when I also opened the bonnet to check the engine compartment for the wallet.

I finally had to transfer money to the attendant’s account and left thinking of the next step to take. I knew the next day was going to be a long one since I have to get to the police station to report the missing items and start the process of getting them replaced. 

I felt really bad also because it was in process of doing my friend a favour this happened and I didn’t even collect money from her.

 I said a little prayer asking God to help me find my missing wallet.

I called my friend and she said she didn’t see it. I remembered taking money from it to buy the initial 2k fuel on my way to the train station so I decided to drive back to the train station. On getting there around 10:30pm, I told the security guys I was looking for my wallet and asked if they saw any.

 They looked at me strangely and said I was free to search the car park area and elsewhere I felt I may have misplaced my wallet. I knew I had very thin hopes but I still gave it a shot. After searching for about 15 minutes, I gave up hope and started planning my moves for the next day. 

As I was driving out, I decided to go back and search one more time. I used my phone torchlight and moved slowly around where I parked the car and I saw a wallet on the floor. I moved closer, picked it up, dusted it and opened it. Lo and behold, I found my wallet with all my money and other items intact. It must have been on my laps and fell when I left the car to help my friend with her luggage.

I screamed for joy, jumped into my car and drove straight home saying what God cannot do does not exist.

Can you imagine that this lady has not even called me back to ask if I eventually found my wallet or how I went about it till now? Na wah …