Through the Rainy Season in Lagos

You realize it’s rainy season when you start experiencing thunderstorms, dark clouds, slippery or flooded roads more often than not and you still need to get by with your normal daily activities. If you live in Lagos, compared to other states within the country, it tends to be a complete hassle commuting due to the gridlock that follows after heavy rainfalls.

Typically, due to these conditions, you might have had to cancel or reschedule meetings, miss appointments or send that text to notify your boss that you are running late. (You have probably sent that same text in the last 3 days)

However, in all of these, it is important you move around smart and safely. So we have some quick tips to help you through the rainy season in Lagos:

Use ridesharing platforms — Driving in the rain isn’t the most pleasant experience, so you should consider ridesharing as a means to move around in the rain. This avoids you the risk of dealing with your personal vehicle breaking down in the rain. Also, if you don’t own a car, you might want to get on these platforms too as opposed to hopping on hap-hazard moving yellow and black buses. Plus, you also get to save some money as you can split fares with colleagues or friends going in your same direction.

Drive cars in good conditions — If you really have to move around with your personal car, make sure you do general checks around the whole car. Usually, your visibility is very limited by the wet weather, so it’s important you clean the windshields inside and out, check the headlights, brake lights, turn signals, washer fluid are all in good conditions. All of these are very essential as you don’t want your own car to impede your view. Always remember to turn your air conditioner off if you are driving through a flood!

Know the best routes — Considering Lagos roads are quite prone to get flooded in the rain, it is important to know better alternate routes away from the ones you ply regularly. This will save your car from getting stuck in traffic, floods, ditches and you most importantly save yourself time.

Leave early — Leaving home or getting off work, where ever you might be, always try to leave earlier than normal. You buy yourself some time by doing this because you never really know how bad the gridlocks can be and you don’t want to be on the road for hours.

Use the weather apps — Most Nigerians may not be so keen on forecast reports but they are actually helpful in knowing what to expect through the day or even a week regarding weather conditions. Although, these reports may not be 100% accurate they at least give you a sense of what to expect. This way you are really never caught unaware; you are able to plan and prioritize places you need to visit.

In addition to these tips, you should have umbrellas, rain boots, raincoats, a cardigan or hoodie, wear less silky and white clothes in the rainy season.

Lastly, cups of coffee or tea will surely help to keep you warm at all times!

Making Life Possible is our ethos at paga, and it is what keeps us committed to our mission of providing inclusive financial services for all Nigerians. With over 15,000 agent outlets and 8 million+ customers, we are inspired by the stories of the community we are building and the people we are empowering by making life possible every single day.