#SOBOLATION: Igara Micra!

In 2017, while in the studio as a guest of Jaycobs on the #SmoothHomeDrive show, the revered OAP with Splash FM at the time put me on the spot and asked: “bike or micra cab?” I didn’t have enough time to think – we were on air, live and time wasn’t a luxury. But really, I didn’t have to think about it – my answer was ready on my lips. “Micra!”

Very few things give me life like micra cabs do.

Sometimes, I love the reckless speed of the micra – me in a corner, listening to music pour into my ears from my earphones. Some other times, it is the conversations between the driver and fellow passengers that give me all the vibes that I need. So, chances are that you’d find me in a back corner of a micra feeling the flow of life in the micra. But lately, it has been the fuji music blasting from stereos of micra cabs.

Those jams be giving me heart beats!

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So, this gentleman gives me a ride from Roundabout to Challenge. He has three big horizontal marks across his cheeks. I sit next to him in front. From his stereo, a fuji track is playing. I love it already, not for melody but for words and expressions that I thought were ridiculous and damn funny. The singer keeps singing and then in the background there’s a member of the band who keeps putting jara into the music.

The first I heard was “Igara lion!” I did not know what Igara meant but whatever it meant, I loved it. I leaned over slightly towards the driver,

“Alaye, ta lo n korin yii – who’s playing?”

I don’t think her rates me much, me in a suit asking about fuji music.

He answers, “Pasuma lo n korin yii now.”

We ride on.

Pasuma sings a few lines, talks about Mecca and the holy pilgrimage – the back up singer chooks his mouth again and shouts, “Igara Kaahaba!” Then Pasuma picks up the verse again, sings another few lines and then another “Igara …” interjects. By now, I am nodding to the fuji music as it seeps into my system. I remind myself not to lose my home training in a micra just because of Igara!

In my head, I am like “me sef, Igara Ring-Road!”

I lean to the cabbie again.

This time he looks at me like “kini problem bobo yii na?!” I don’t care.

“Egbon, whats the name of this Pasuma album?” He tries to remember but he does not know. He however explains that that particular song was not in an album but part of a live performance. “Life! Life ni!” He sucks in his lower lip underneath his upper teeth hard as he emphasizes the “Life”. He is smiling now, “club ni Paso ti shey record yii.”

He finally considers me a worthy companion to share with. By now, we are at Mobil. I am smiling, nodding still.

“Which club?” I ask

“Top-One, Podo ni Baa Wasi ti ko orin yii – it was at Top One club that it was recorded and then sold.”

“What year?”

He tries to remember, it takes almost a minute before he says “2014 or 15 sha.”

By now Pasuma has since stopped Igara but my head keeps playing Igara. My point is – this is how we learn things and they stick with us: a simple song playing in a car births a conversation and gbam, it stays with me! Whatever you’re paying attention to sticks with you.

Be kiavu (careful)!

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If you are reading this and you’re asking me what micra is, then you must not have been to Ibadan in recent years. What Molue has come to signify to Lagos – a means of transportation customized for and peculiar to Lagos alone – is what Micra cabs are to Ibadan.