UNCLAD: How Does It Enhance Fighting?

#Lifestyle

In the streets of Lagos, a lot of funny things do happen day-in, day-out. Among the funny things that I ever witnessed myself this morning, is when a bus conductor removed his clothes inside a moving vehicle to engage in a fight with a passenger at along Ikorodu –Oshodi road. I must say that what I saw today was really a show of shame.

This incident happened this early morning when I was going to my working place. As I was standing patiently waiting for a bus at our junction; Oduntan Street. An 18 sitters-bus with inscription Federal Mass Transit Bus on its body, with registration number XY 249 KTU was heading towards Oshodi was about to pass. I had to beckon on the driver to stop. The driver applied the brake and the bus came to halt. I jumped inside the bus, I sat down and drivers revved up.

On the way, the bus conductor was shouting “...Osho…Osho…Osho”. With his menacing, loud, and an esoteric voice like that of street urchins known as (Area boys), the bus conductor announced that all the passengers to enter with their change. Also, I noticed a particular way in which these conductors always call the place they are heading. Instead of them calling the place the bus is going in full, they will shorten the name of the place that it will be so confusing to a total stranger.

The bus was moving on the service lane of the road before. Towards Ilele bus-stop, the driver negotiated his way and move towards express, to avoid unnecessary traffic at Ketu. Notably, the  Ketu bus-stop has been characterized by heavy traffic jam, as a result of commercial vehicles that had to stop and pick their passengers at a cosmopolitan area like Ketu. The bus stop is quite a strategy as any passenger can link any part of Lagos from this bus-stop.

As the vehicle was on motion, the bus Conductor said “…uda mbe... I don’t have change. When I reach Oshodi, I go marry una…, I don talk my own.. ooo.” He spoke in pidgin English..  meaning the passengers should bring out their fare. That they should pay him complete money, if not, that he will join the passengers together for those he will be giving their balance.

 Looking at the bus conductor, the way he was hauling insult on his passengers showed that he lacked good home training.

There was a particular woman he was abusing every now and then. When he was restrained by one of the lanky passengers, which yours KEB later found out to be a military officer, who was on plainclothes but the conductor was so adamant. This uncouth behaviour made the military guy warning him. 

The continuous vituperation of the bus conductor further made one of the passengers that sat in the front row of the vehicle to also talk to the bus conductor. In the course of an argument, the bus conductor pushed the man. This, of course, made the fight to ensue.

The bus conductor, in a bid to get ready for the fight quickly removed his shirt flung it on the floor. As if that was not enough, he removed his trouser thereby only left with only knickers. He was just pacing and throwing punches and swinging his hand like Mike Tyson, and upon all this, his punches did not get at his opponent. The boisterous activity of these fighters in the bus attracted the attention of others on the road. They were craning their necks to have a glimpse of a show on the bus, where the fight was going on.

The man was so agile and well-built up like that of bouncers, who over-powered him by holding the bus conductor so tenaciously, so much so that, he was not able to breathe. He was apparently gasping for air. It was then other passengers stepped in. They were begging the man to leave him.

 Will I say out of pity or the fact a bus the conductor was so coward enough in that, he was not able to engage the passenger in a good fight, that made him to reluctantly leave the bus conductor.

 As the bus conductor regained his freedom from the grip of his opponent, he sighed for being relieved. He was not only pacing around but at the same time he was shouted “...ha... ha...ha... epa mio...’’ in the Yoruba language. This means he has killed me.

While others busted into a gale of laughter, I was so angry that upon all the noise he was making that almost damaged my eardrums, the bus conductor could not fight. If he was learned and enlightened at all, he would have remembered what Robert Greene said about picking up a fight in his masterpiece -The 48 Law of Power.

 One of the laws says.. “Don’t pick up a fight with a person that you don’t know”. This advised was thrown into thin air, and as a result of this, the bus conductor was beaten black and blue.

Also, yours KEB noted one thing about people from this tribe. An apology to them: many of them are cowards. Removing clothes before fighting, which is prominent among the tribe, to my mind, is a sign of cowardice. They only know how to make noise exactly like a cymbal, when beaten its tempo increases highly and eventually came down.

Going back to my question, I want to find out how unclad helps someone during the act of fighting. I have been seeing this often in the streets of Lagos. It is a cultural thing or a myth that when you remove your clothes, you as a fighter will be able to fight your opponents very well? it is not only men that remove their clothes during the fighting, but I also witnessed the same thing in their womenfolk?

To me, if somebody confronts me to the point of the fighting, and make a mistake of removing his clothes first, is at my mercy; I will gladly use that opportunity to beat that person up to the stage of pulp, before he even realizes himself.