The events detailed below were as told to me by Audu. I met Audu when I boarded his bus from Nasarawa Eggon to Lafia sometime this year.
"God is always on the side of the Righteous" Audu declared as he shifted gears. "Let me give you a story to buttress my point" he added. I knew an interesting story was about to be spilled so I leaned back on my seat and turned my face towards him.
A certain woman in Lafia had given Audu a bag containing rice to deliver to her sister in Nasarawa Eggon. She had paid him and had given Audu her sister's phone number so he could call when he arrived at Nasarawa Eggon. The journey between Nasarawa Eggon and Lafia is short. At most it takes 20 minutes, Reckless drivers do the trip in 12.
Upon arrival, Audu called the recipient and then arranged to meet. He then proceeded to get some rest, the recipient of the rice was going to come and meet him as he rested from his labors. Not long afterward a woman came and asked for the rice that her sister sent from Lafia. Audu took the rice from the boot and handed it over to her and went back to sleep. It gets hot in March and only those afternoon naps in the shade of mango trees seemed to make things a bit bearable.
Audu's nap was interrupted by a call. The voice on the other end was asking if he was the one lying beside a blue bus. She wanted to come and get the rice her sister had sent her. All sleep vanished from Audu's eyes. Who then had come for the rice earlier? There was an emerging feminine figure in the distance. Audu thought it would be best to let her get to him first before the drama started.
The woman arrived and then greeted Audu warmly, Audu hoped she would still be warm and friendly when he broke the news to her. She without hesitation went straight to the point and asked for her rice. Audu then asked her if she wasn't the person who sent someone to come and collect the rice. The woman sensed that some weird tale was about to be told about her rice, so she announced that her consignment contained 20 Mudus of rice.
Audu tried to pacify the now agitated woman. He must pay her for the stolen rice. How dare he give her rice to another woman without double-checking. She went almost as far as accusing him of theft. The only acceptable solution to her was that he paid her for her 20 Mudus of rice. Audu tried to protest that the rice in the bag could not have been up to 20 Mudus but the woman was already trying to raise dust and create a scene.
Audu's uncle could hear the commotion so he came to see what it was all about. After listening to both parties, he pleaded with the woman to be patient and scolded Audu for not being careful with her rice. He then went into the house and paid her eight thousand Naira. Four hundred Naira for every Mudu of rice. The woman grudgingly accepted the money and left. Audu knelt and thanked his uncle for saving him from embarrassment. He had not rested enough, but that day had been ruined already. Not that his uncle had said anything, but he felt indebted to his uncle.
He started his vehicle and drove into the highway, hoping to find a few Lafia bound passengers so that he could start paying back his uncle. in the distance, his mind drifted to a figure in the distance. Something was oddly familiar about her. She was carrying a bag on her head. She was the woman who had stolen his bag of rice!
Audu pushed hard on the accelerator and raced to catch the woman and braked hard when he got beside her. He jumped out in a hurry then ran back to the bus to pull his handbrake. He snatched the bag from her head began a long tirade on how she deceived him and caused him embarrassment. He was still ranting when the second lady who collected 20 Mudus of rice come out the door of the house to see what was going on.
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