Before the chaos unfolded at the Ikorodu terminal that Monday, I encountered an unusual situation that left me puzzled. I had approached the Cowry card recharge operator to load ₦1000 onto my card, enough to cover a round trip across the city. As routine, I asked for my balance after the recharge—what came next was a shock: my balance was minus ₦400.
Both the operator and I were surprised. I became curious and tried to trace the cause. Then I remembered an incident from about five days earlier. That day, I had boarded a commercial bus which unfortunately broke down. Stranded, I had to walk around a bridge to find another BRT terminal. I eventually got on a BRT bus at a point where there were no operators available to recharge Cowry cards.
Desperate, I begged the bus driver to let me ride to the official terminal to recharge and continue my journey. The driver agreed, and I completed the trip. I assumed everything was fine, but the system recorded the ride as unpaid and deducted the fare later, leaving my card negative.
It was a reminder of how automated systems in public transport, though efficient, can be unforgiving in certain scenarios. I wasn’t trying to dodge payment, but the lack of recharge options at some terminals caused confusion. This inconvenience affects users of the Cowry system. We need greater flexibility and better support for those relying on Cowry cards in such cases.
