· Power bikers dare death for love of thrill
By Ugochi Udukwe
Picture yourself as a thrill seeker. You careen through jagged roads and tumultuous vehicular traffic like thunderbolt on wheels. You feel the rush of the wind as it strikes against your face and howl musically against the steel casing of your helmet. A rousing sense of jollity wells up in you and courses through your psyche as you ride at the same velocity as a superfast automobile on the fabled Formula One racetrack. But you are not on the million dollar spewing racetrack rather you are a thrill ‘junkie’ on a two-wheel, turbo-charged machine otherwise known as the power bike. And you do not have to manoeuvre the wheels of a racecar to experience the thrill that comes with driving. For this purpose, you have got your power bike.
A precautious mind would be wary of the perils characteristic of Nigerian highways; such mind would tirelessly worry about the risk involved in daring extremely bad roads and careless drivers to race for a thrill on the country’s major high ways but such fussiness is never the preoccupation of the average power bike rider and thrill enthusiast on Nigerian roads.
“I love the thrill of riding on a power bike. I live for the adrenaline. It’s akin to soaring in a rush of cool wind,” said Yinka Otun, a banker and power bike enthusiast.
Although the sport of power bike riding is a relatively new phenomenon in the country, ordinary motorbikes have been a regular feature on Nigerian roads for decades. Japanese models like Yamaha, Suzuki and Vespa constitute the rave among motorbike enthusiasts. Soon, the motorbikes got sleeker and faster with speed range notching 150 to 350 km per hour. Besides the sleekness, ruggedness and speed of the power bike, the attractive kit of the power bike rider makes him or her a fascinating sight to several eyes. The riders when fully kitted in the mandatory body armour, full face helmet, boots, gloves, knee and elbow pads and other biker apparatchik present a very interesting sight.
More fascinating are the stunts that the power bike riders frequently perform, particularly when caught in the thrill of the ride.
Whenever they make a public appearance particularly when riding in a group, power bike riders attract excited stares and comments from the public, most of whom are usually enraptured by their daredevil stunts.
But contrary to perceptions that most power bike riders are basically irresponsible thrill seekers, many of them are upstanding and law-abiding members of the society with proper day jobs. Bisi Fagade, a medical doctor, for instance works 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday and spends her weekends hanging out with colleagues at work and other in her biker club. “Many people marvel at me whenever they see me make a public appearance fully kitted in my biker outfit. Many men who can’t hold their amusement have approached me in the past to voice their admiration of me. They still do. Just recently, a married couple accosted me at The Mall in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos. Gushing with admiration, they told me I looked very sexy. They exchanged phone numbers with me and told me they wished to know more of me. In other instances, I have been told that what power biking is too dangerous for a woman but I simply scoff at such warnings. I learnt to ride a power bike at the age of 18 in the United States. A childhood friend taught me and when my family relocated to Nigeria, I persistently sought to meet like minds. I got very lucky. I met few folk who were equally passionate about the sport through my cousin at my favourite hangout. Together, we started a biker club. It’s been fun all through,” said Fagade.
However, like every thrilling sport, power bike riding comes with caveat; it requires extreme caution and skill to master a power bike and navigate the country’s bad roads with it. Many who fail to ride with caution have been known to crash and lose their lives in ghastly accidents.
Though statistics are not readily available, there have been reported cases of accidents involving power bike riders which have resulted in bodily injuries and in some cases death.
The menace of power bike accidents has of recent been on an alarming increase. Just recently, two young men lost their lives in the most gruesome circumstance during the Consumer Protection Council Bike Road Show around the Federal Secretariat Abuja. The deceased were among a throng of bikers led by showbiz impresario and power bike enthusiast, Charly Boy.
“Biking could be a dangerous sport, but everything is dangerous if not well managed,” declared Charly Boy, musician and entertainer and one of the pacesetters of power bike riding in Nigeria sometime ago in an interview. The self-proclaimed ‘Area Fada’ of Okada riders of Nigeria, disclosed that he was always careful while riding, and as such, had never been involved in a crash. Eyewitnesses said the stunts they performed were too dangerous and unsuitable for that kind of busy road. This elicits the question: “Who permitted the bikers to go on a stunt parade on a major road?”
Sometime in 2012, Mohammed, the first son of a former Minister of Power and Steel, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu died in similar circumstances on his way back to Abuja from a Bikers’ Convention in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. He reportedly instructed his driver to go ahead while he rode his power bike. Unfortunately, he reportedly fell off his bike somewhere around Delta State maybe due to dehydration because of the hot weather, shunting or fatigue and was crushed by two oncoming cars.
Similar deaths have been reported in the media especially in the last couple of years and the victims are mostly the silver spoon children of the affluent and. Femi Segun’s death from injuries sustained in a power bike accident for instance, brings the issue to the front burner.
Segun, a former ambassador and multi-linguist, was a power bike enthusiast until he met his untimely death in a bike accident. “Super bikers come in different outlooks. But one common thing among them is their unique style, bravado, and love for adventure,” he explained in an interview he granted just before his accident. Segun’s choice ‘machine’ which he rode about town was a ‘beast’ called Kawasaki ZX1400 Ninja. It’s about the second fastest sports bike in the world which does 1-100 kph in 2.5 seconds with a top speed of 320kph.
Late Segun’s love for racing began decades ago as an undergraduate at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). According to him, he started riding superbikes in his second year on campus in 1976. “That was when I bought a Kawasaki 250cc. It was considered big in those days. After that I began riding my friends’ Kawasaki Z1000cc. That makes it 36 years ago, since I started riding bikes,” he disclosed.
No doubt, a rider in full gear with helmet to match fascinates people. But deep down, many a Nigerian dread the dangerous thrill of riding a power bike. Neither do people like the scary growl it makes when one rides past on top speed. Too many factors are responsible for the wariness been accorded the sport of power biking by precautious minds.
One major reason is that the roads are bad and do not make for compulsive riding whether in Lagos or out of it. Doing interstate on a bike, to many, therefore portends a suicide mission. Second, there is a fledgling psychological tussle between motorists and power bike riders. Motorists usually believe they have the right of way since they are the bigger vehicles; they believe the roads, the major highways to be precise, were built for cars and trucks and not power bikes and as such, do not fancy a bike overtaking them. Thus, there is a struggle, sometimes, for right of way, which leads to shunting and this is usually fatal, according to Franklin Nwose, a power bike enthusiast and commercial transporter.
There is also the consideration about the skill and experience of the rider. Segun and Dalhatu’s death among others, elicits worries about the competency of several power bike enthusiasts to mount a bike and ride it on the country’s major highways. The question is whether these bike riders actually have the requisite skills and experience to take a spin. Do they just allow their passion for power bikes to overwhelm them so much that they fail to actually get well acquitted with its dynamics before embarking on their dangerous spins?
Power bike riders are road users too and should know their limitations under the law, according to Yinka Akintunde, a Lagos based attorney and a private road safety corps volunteer. Akintunde argued that, power bike enthusiasts should be enlightened about the dangers involved in plying major busy highways at breakneck speed. “They should be made to understand that doing dangerous stunts and shutting down roads to satisfy their thrill can no longer be condoned as it endangers their lives as those of other road users. The Lagos state government and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) should intervene to prevent more fatal accidents caused by power bikers,” he said.
