“Salone man nor dey fraid moto car.” I tell myself this after serenading the ears of a pedestrian walking unattentively along Howe Street with the car horn; one would think I was lining up a remix for DJ Kent’s “Horns In The Sun” (great track). It always comes as an inside joke between me and my friends, but I have observed pedestrians scatter across the road at the sight of leashed cattle. Why they never accord the same reverence, fright, and caution to metallic machines weighing tons creeping up behind them beats me every time.

Driving and road traffic behavior in Sierra Leone would easily come as a culture shock to a newcomer, especially after experiencing the wild and erratic nature of Lagos, Nigeria where pedestrians are skeptical about all motorists. While the latter jurisdiction is by no means a healthy pedestrian and motorist relationship to be compared with any society striving to attain basic order, it would be nice for Sierra Leonean pedestrians to add some attentiveness and caution to vehicles creeping up behind them. Of course, the bulk of the burden of care lies on the driver, but primarily, each of us has our lives in our own hands and should not leave them in the hands of any Hassan, Sorie, or Fatmata behind the wheel.

However, one thing I will give the Sierra Leonean public credit for is the respect, albeit half-hearted, for the marked crosswalk, or zebra crossing. Trust me, credit has to be given because I have seen worse. Picture this funny scenario: a man running across the zebra crossing with a poda poda (commercial bus) charging towards him and narrowly missing his trailing foot. The man yells angrily in Krio, “Yu nor dey see zebra crossing!?”, and the poda poda driver responds, “Yu na zebra!?” Like their Nigerian cousins, the danfo drivers, poda poda drivers fear no man, rules, or even God.

Quite an unfortunate scenario, but imagine if the above were the norm in Sierra Leone, that you, a pedestrian, wake up every morning with this gnashing thought at the back of your mind: that one of your adversaries for the day would be the motoring collective. What a daunting experience daily commuting would be.

The Lumley Triad of Tardiness

Now let us pivot to Lumley, as I let out a huge sigh at the very thought of this. There are a ton of things that send waves of discouragement through a person, and the sight of the Lumley traffic from the hill of Spur Road is one of them. I had never seen a set of inefficient or redundant traffic lights till the triad of Lumley Police Station, Beach Road, and Regent Road traffic lights popped up on the scene. Some would say the traffic lights create a little sense of order in the prevailing go-slow; but that is a defeatist way of looking at the situation, if that suits them. Yet, I see it differently.

The presence of traffic lights, bolstered with supervising road traffic policemen, is a poignant testament to the fact that a solution might look good on paper, but the execution of the said solution is where the problem lies. According to Peter Drucker, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. This position captures the idea that the underlying values, norms, and behaviors of a group can have a more profound impact on success than carefully laid-out plans—like three traffic light points on the same road stretch, interpolated by rowdy de facto bus stops, which have managed to overpower the relevant authorities for years. There are a bunch of plausible solutions in my head, but who is listening?

Valiant Riders on Metallic Horses

Finally, okada. I bet no group has gained more notoriety on the face of the earth since Genghis Khan and his horde of Mongolian conquerors (I say this quietly). While not outrightly comparing our sweet comrades, who are an integral part of our society, to the East Asian pillagers of yore, it is imperative that we highlight how they navigate the roads in a siege-like manner with brutal willful ignorance and non-adhesion to road traffic rules, coupled with their unanimous and simultaneous impatience. The speed with which they make their decisions is so swift that sitting down in a relaxed mood is never advisable. Side mirrors are an inconvenience to the bulk of them; they somehow never see the indicator lights of the motorist ahead; their own indicator lights seldom work, and when they do, it often indicates the opposite direction to which they intend to follow. Truly an intriguing bunch.

In all these, we need a better enforcement of road traffic laws, especially the outright stopping or relocation of these de facto bus stops, which inhibit the proper functioning of the triad of traffic lights on the Lumley axis.

^{This article and the images are the intellectual property of Rijami Arekong. The article first appeared in Travels & Thrills Vol. 1, Issue 2 (April 2025), published by More Cream Than Coffee.}