My Uber Driver Told Me Something That Still Haunts Me

Last week Thursday, I ordered Uber from Lekki Phase 1 to Ikeja. The driver was this quiet Igbo guy, maybe late 40s. We were stuck in that Third Mainland traffic for almost two hours, so we started gisting small small.

He told me he used to be a big contractor. Had three cars, two houses in Magodo. Then one client refused to pay him ₦18 million after he finished a project. The man used his connections, dragged him to court for years. By the time the case ended, he had sold everything to pay lawyers and feed his family.

Now he drives Uber 14 hours a day. He said something that stayed with me: "My daughter still asks why we left our big house. I tell her God knows. But sometimes I wonder if I should have just let that money go instead of fighting."

I tipped him ₦20k. He almost cried. We don't talk enough about how many Nigerians are one bad business deal away from starting over.