Three days ago while sharing a memory in my post I wrote:
"15 years ago, I never gave a thought to where I'd be today, just like I've not given a thought to where I'd be in 15 years to come...probably in the grave? Only Allah knows..."
That comment turned out to be some sort of premonition of what would happen later in the day. I had a close shave with a ghastly accident which left me very much shaken and had me reflecting on what would have been, had the accident been fatal.
I was driving from Katsina to Bakori with my wife and little daughter when somewhere between Gyaza and Matazu, after a village called Darawa, a motor cyclist got on my path. I quickly swerved to my left and at the same time applied the brakes. Unknown to me, a Golf commercial vehicle at top speed was right behind me. To avoid hitting me squarely, the 22 year old driver swerved to his left, side swiping my car, taking along my rearview mirror.
As he was at top speed, he lost control and the car went off the other lane, summersaulted and landed on its top into a ditch under a bridge...
I had never seen anything like that in my 32 years of driving as a licenced driver! I saw everything in a slow motion, as if in a movie...the car brushing by me and going like a bat out of hell and tumbling into the ditch...it was traumatic...I kept seeing it in my sleep that night which would jerk me awake...I didn't sleep much that night.
Slowly, I brought my car to a standstill, got out, leaving my wife and daughter in the car. I went and helped to push the car back on its tires before we could get one of the passengers out through the shattered windscreen as the doors were jammed.
Fortunately, no life was lost and nobody broke even a limb, but the car was badly mangled.