They Have Started

I was sitting in my car on a very long queue from the Mobil petrol station in Maryland. This queue was almost getting to Anthony bus stop (a stretch of almost 3 miles!)

It was one of those days when fuel was scarce.

Suddenly, a guy ran past my car with a Jerry can in one hand shouting, "They have started o!" in Yoruba.

I quickly jumped out of my car, opened my booth, got my Jerry can and ran after him. He kept running towards Maryland.

When he got to the petrol station, he shouted again, "Won ti bere ooo!" This in Yoruba means, "They have started o!"

He ran past the petrol station and headed towards Sheraton hotel.

Anyone who knows these places I'm mentioning will understand how quite afar they are. I tried to run faster to catch up and ask the boy what have they started, but the boy ran faster.

I looked back and I saw like 6 people had joined us running with Jerry cans in their palms.

We continue past Sheraton and headed towards Ikeja bus stop.

When we got to Ikeja bus stop, he shouted again, "They have started o!"... and continued his run. We asked each other what was happening but nobody seemed to know as we ran behind the boy.

Finally, we got to Oshodi and he shouted again, this time, we were like 40 people running behind him, all of us with a Jerry can in one hand. He shouted again, "They have started ooo!"!!!

He continued his run towards Isolo and finally, after getting to Isolo, he stopped and we were all gasping for breath, all of us , men and women, some with pot bellies.

I moved closed to him and asked, "What have they started?"

The boy replied, "Chelsea vs Arsenal, the match has started!"

I fainted.