agbero

n. a taxi or bus tout; (hence) a street thug or small-time extortionist. Subjects: Nigeria

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Citations: 1965 Wole Soyinka The Road @ Collected Plays (June 1, 1973) p. 224: Samson Baba Agbero.…King of Touts! Champion of motor park! 1995 Niyi Osundare @ Lagos Newswatch (Ikeja, Nigeria) (Mar.) “See Lagos and Die”: Lagos is suchlike text, only more baffling, more amorphous.…Where else would you encounter the inventive ribaldry of the agbero (motor park tout)? 2000 Sarah Krose @ Univ. of British Columbia (Museum of Anthropology) (B.C., Can.) (July 24) “Principles of Traditional African Art in Yoruba Thorn Wood Carvings: Conversations with Titi Adepitan” p. 100: The Yoruba word for bus conductor is agbero, the one who collects fares from the passengers. We sometimes also call them touts. They are as terrible as you’ll ever get. Maybe we have the prime selection of bus conductors and touts anywhere in the world for their cantankerousness. I mean, they’re always talking and talking and making trouble. 2002 Anthony Okoro @ Lagos, Nigeria (All Africa) (Jan. 17) “Lagos Smoke Shacks”: These smoke joints are said to be responsible for the increasing rate of miscreants popularly called Agbero in the area. 2002 Anthony Okoro @ Lagos, Nigeria (All Africa) (July 22) “Agbero, 6 Traffic Management Authority Men in Street Fight”: While the officials were preventing drivers from making unnecessary U-turns, the agbero was said to be encouraging them and even directing them to drive against traffic. The excesses of the miscreant reached such a point that he was stopping vehicles on the middle of the bridge, molesting and extorting money from drivers and conductors, thereby compounding the already chaotic traffic situation. 2005 Daily Champion (Lagos, Nigeria) (June 16) “Menace of Touts”: Despite the pull and push that has made Lagos a city of first choice for many who seek a good head-start in life, Lagos has its unique draw-backs, one of which is the menace of social miscreants otherwise known as Area Boys and motor park touts called Agberos in local parlance.

Posted 20 Jul 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend