While motorcycling is considered a dangerous sport/pastime, the bikers community in Nigeria is often regarded as a group of irresponsible rich guys who enjoy riding the roads of Nigeria and beyond, sometimes at the expense of their lives.
The Ride Easy Motorcycling Club, which was founded in July 2013, is set to challenge that perception. The club, which is made up of a group of like-minded individuals – men and women who identify with the core values of integrity, humility, faithfulness, accountability and responsibility – is at the forefront of demystifying motorcycling and is committed to promoting motorcycle safety at all times, as well as fostering and developing dedicated and disciplined motorcycle riders.
To that end, it recently organised the first ever Advanced Riders Training in Nigerian Rider Tactics, for its members. The training, which was facilitated by Chris Bulger, of TNT motorcycling Canada, consisted of seven days of one-to-one training, which culminated in a joint session on the final day. The clinic took place between the 22nd of November 2014, and the 29th of November 2014.
Ogbonnaya Kanu – the only Nigerian to have ridden to from Nigeria to Europe and back, and from South Africa to Nigeria solo – is also a member, as well as the Secretary-General of the club. Kanu, a certified instructor himself, was very pleased with the outcome of the training: “Chris has tons of things that everyone can benefit from. For myself as an instructor, I learnt so much. For a lot of us, once we come out on the road and start riding, we feel we are good enough. For us in REMC, Chris was able to give everyone something that would make them better.” said Kanu
For Chris, whose first time this was in Africa, found the whole experience exhilarating. “I come here and it’s like the Wild West…there’s its own structure. This is a very challenging environment to ride in. For me, if you can ride a motorcycle here and you’re good at it, you can ride anywhere else, except maybe India. This is like the best place in the world to ride, because there is so much you have to do and go so quick, and you have to be smart and really good skilled. That makes me feel really good that I came, because these guys are just starting out or they are trying to get better.”
Though not yet a certainty, the club is definitely looking at the possibility of making such training available to non-members in the near future.
(All images by: Mohini Ufeli)
