Chapter 3 — THE ROAD THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
My first 911 Oga was an older man. He could be difficult sometimes, but I learned how to understand him.
He did not sit me down and formally teach me gears. I watched him. I paid attention to the way he handled the
vehicle.
One day, while he had left the 911 at a loading point, they told me to move it forward.
I entered the vehicle, started it, selected first gear, and moved it.
I did it successfully.
The manager was watching.
That small moment changed something in me. I realized I could learn this.
Later, a new trailer driver came to the company. His name was IK, from Nnewi in Anambra State. He was quiet
and cold, and people warned me not to approach him because he did not talk much.
But I wanted to learn trailer driving.
I told another driver that I wanted IK to teach me. The person warned me again.
I decided to try.
I went to IK and told him I wanted him to teach me trailer driving. He said I could stay and get a 911, but I told
him I wanted trailer. To me, trailer was bigger, longer, and it looked like a path to a bigger future.
IK saw that I was serious.
He agreed.
He told me, in simple words, that if he was going to work, I should follow him.
The first trip was hard. I had no money. IK said he would send me money, but the money did not come. I went
hungry for two or three days, surviving mainly on water.
I was angry, but I kept quiet. I had made up my mind that if this was the road to becoming a professional trailer
driver, I would endure the beginning.
The company eventually approved me to follow IK instead of the old 911 Oga.
IK became a very important person in my life. He taught me the trailer.
The first time he put me behind the wheel of the trailer, I told him I could not drive it. He insisted that I move it.
I was afraid, but I moved it.
He was pleased.
After about one week, I was driving well. I could drive, but I did not yet know how to reverse properly. After
about three months, I became confident in both driving and reversing. People began noticing me.
Trailer owners started asking me to leave IK and come work for them.
But I remembered what IK had told me: when people see that you can drive, they will try to take you away. He
told me to remember that we might meet again one day.
I refused the offers because I felt IK had not finished teaching me.
Later, the company bought an 814 for me to drive. When IK told me he was going to leave the company, I said I
would leave too.
He asked whether I would really abandon driving and become a conductor again.
I told him yes, because I knew I was not yet fully qualified and I was afraid I could fail a test somewhere else.
So I left with IK.
I stayed with him for about five years and seven months, almost six years. During that time, I became a
professional trailer driver.
That was when I understood something: every time you start a trailer and go out on the road, you are learning another lesson.
