The Law Student, the Learned Driver, and the Mopol

The zeal

A law student who had just passed his bar finals was at the Supreme Court in Abuja to have his name registered on the roll of legal practitioners. At the Supreme Court, he was given a prerequisite document which had to be signed by the Nigerian Law School. It was around noon and it's about 45 minute drive from the Supreme Court to law school. He was hoping he could make his way to the law school and still come back in time to the Supreme Court to complete the process the same day.

"Park well"

On his way out of the Supreme Court, the law student saw a taxi that seemed to be heading out of the Court premises and he quickly waved for the driver to stop. The driver pulled up by the kerb and he jumped in the taxi. No sooner had he shut the taxi door than a mobile police officer (Mopol) who was like 15 meters away approached quickly. "PARK WELL!", ordered the Mopol. "Didn't you see the no parking sign?", he said to the driver.

The law student hadn't seen it coming. He was so zealous about completing the registration at the Supreme Court and wasn't ready for any sort of drama that could occasion delay. "Sorry Sir, we sincerely apologise", said the law student.

"No, don't apologise", retorted the taxi driver with notable eloquence. "Let's just beg him to save time", said the law student.

Swayed

The driver proceeded defiantly. "I stopped to pick a passenger, I did not park". "There is a difference between stopping and parking". "The road sign you are referring to means no parking". At this point the law student was nodding slowly in approval, seemingly following the driver's argument.

"If it were intended that no one should stop or park in these premises, the appropriate road sign would have been placed here" the driver added. "Such sign is usually a red x on a blue background rather than a single red line". The Mopol paused for like 5 seconds then smiled and said, "Okay, just find me something".

As they headed for Bwari, the law student was still perplexed and wondered how a cabbie could speak with such eloquence. "I am a university graduate, I started driving a taxi in Abuja due to the unemployment situation in this country", said the taxi driver.

'The law student, the learned driver, and the Mopol' is a fictional short story inspired by real-life events. The images used are stock images for an elaborative purpose only and the characters had nothing to do with the actual story.