We asked 5 female drivers about sexist comments and male aggression on Nigerian roads

If you ply Nigerian routes, there is almost a 100% certainty that you'd have seen female drivers being [lowkey or blatantly] insulted, harrassed, or suffering some form of aggression from male road users, conductors and even male folk standing by the roadside. We asked some Nigerian women to share their personal experiences with these and here's what they told us:

Iyanu, Abuja

I once had to go somewhere far so I left the house very early. By 6:30, I was at a fuelling station. There was a car in front of me waiting to get fuelled and then there was this other man in another car, off the queue. Soon he tried to get in front of the man before me and that one didn’t give him space. He now tried it with me. I just pointed to my watch to let him know that I was running late as well. And it was not even as if this man was begging me o, he was more or less ordering me with his mannerisms, trying to bully his way into my front in a way he didn’t try with the other man. As soon as the man in front of me was done and I rolled my car forward to get fuelled, this man actually came out of his car and started yelling at me, saying all sorts. I didn’t even respond. I just sat in my car pressing my phone as I was being attended to. Apparently, he was insulting me, saying I don’t have sense and all. And he was not even that triggered when the other man didn’t give him space. I don’t know whether he was expecting me to obey him simply because I’m a woman. Thankfully I didn’t have to respond. Everyone in the station gave him a mouthful on my behalf, even the NAPEP drivers and the lady attendant.

Nana, Lagos.

So I was in traffic around Agidingbi in Ikeja. There's one particular place that is always blocked especially during the rush hour. Anyway, this guy had his window down and kept signalling for me to wind down. Because he kept asking me to wind down, I did. I thought maybe one of my tyres went flat or something was wrong. Only for this guy to say he needs my number and that he can make my life better. I was like nope, and then put my glass back up. He kept cursing and cursing lmao. That it's because I'm a woman, women don't have sense one thing one thing. I was so confused. Anyway, when the lanes started to slowly move, he now slightly blocked me, came to my front so I wouldn't be able to move - you know the traffic was tight. Of course, he blocked others at his back, too. He kept saying if I was a good driver I wouldn't let him block me, that we will sleep here today. I was so confused and scared. People started vexing for him. Someone was even asking me if I knew him from before or something. Sha, he eventually moved away after people blasted him. I was so confused.