Olufemi Adediran
Babatunde Hafsoh Olayemi recently made history as the first ever Nigerian female biker to tour all the 19 northern states of the nation on her own. Call it passion, determination and resilience and you won’t be wrong. Olayemi risked it all and the end result was more than beautiful. Olayemi is a patriotic Nigerian, who is determined to change the narrative of disunity, ethnic division and religious sentiment, said she hopes to unite Nigerians from different tribes with her tours.
This propelled her into embarking on a tour of riding across all the northern states, covering over 5,000 kilometres in just 14 days. The 29-year-old biker, fashion designer and an Immigration officer attached to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Ogun Command, did not mind getting beaten by the harsh weather, nor did she let the dangers of riding a bike scare her. Besides, she was also determined to explore the world and have first- hand experience of what the north looks like.
Exploring
Prior to her journey to the north, Olayemi had earlier toured Togo, Cotonou and Cameroun with her bike, all in less than a year. “I started biking last September. My reason for biking was that I felt it was cheaper traveling on a bike. “Recently, I did a tour round the northern parts of Nigeria. I have been able to travel the length and breadth of the country and even outside Nigeria. I have been to Togo, Cotonou and Cameroon in less than a year.
“I love to explore; I love to see things. The reason why I travelled to the northern part of the country was because I have friends that live there and they come here and people say the north is not safe and that you can’t go there, but that propelled me more to want to go and see it for myself. “I went as far as Sokoto (Sokoto State) and Maiduguri (Borno State) and the people there were not as bad as I was told. They were really accommodating,” Olayemi said.
The graduate of Islamic Education at the University of Ibadan (UI) and a Master’s Degree holder in Educational Administrative and Planning at the National Open University (NOUN), said she was discouraged and warned by people, especially her family members not to tour the north because of the in- security challenges. According to her, when she told people about her plan to tour the north with her bike, they wrote her off, they never gave her a chance and they thought she was only joking and trying to impress them.
Attack
Sharing her experience on the tour of the north with New Tele- graph, Olayemi said, she was almost attacked by armed militias, but she was able to escape the attack and continued on her journey. “I was restricted to ride only during daytime; I did not ride at night. Once it was evening I had to stop and sleep over anywhere I was. “I started from Abeokuta; I headed to Akure from Akure to Kaba, from Kaba to Lokoja, from Lokoja to Abuja, from Abuja to Nasarawa and then to Benue State.
I headed to Jos, Plateau, to Bauchi and from Bauchi to Gombe. Thereafter, I moved from Bauchi to Adamawa and later from Jalingo in Taraba State. “I had a nasty experience in Gombe. On my way out of the reception one morning, I had this disaster. A car hit me and I lost a lot of things. It took me three days to fix my bike and since that time, the bike has not got its balance. “I was destabilised to the extent that people around me started saying ‘maybe you should take the bike back home because you already lost this.’
That made me feel hurt. More than what happened to me, people told me what hurt me the more. They were like: ‘Who do you want to impress? Just go back home.’ That hurt me and when I got to my hotel room I cried about it. They were bikers who were meant to encourage me not to give up.
Encouragement
“On the contrary, one, Mr Wale, who just rode from London down to Abeokuta, told me that ‘as long as the engine of my bike was still working, I should not stop.’ I think that really motivated me. “Then, I went to Yobe State, where I met with the Emir of Potiskum, Alhaji Umaru Bubaram Ibn Wuriwa Bauya who treated me to a rousing welcome.
I slept there at the palace. “From Yobe, I headed to Borno State. From Borno I went back to the Emir of Potskum’s palace to spend a night. The Emir gave me two history books. One is titled ‘Hard Facts on Potiskum Emirate of Yobe State, Nigeria,’ and the second one is: ‘The Chronology and Biography of Patas- kum (Potiskum) Emirate.’ “From the Emir’s palace, I headed to Jigawa and then Kano. I slept in Kano where I was hosted by some bikers.
From Kano I headed to Katsina, where I visited the hometown of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Daura. I then went back to Katsina to sleep; while there I was also welcomed by a number of bikers.
First
“From Katsina, I headed to Zamfara, I also met bikers, they were nice people. I left there for Sokoto. They took me to the Sultan’s palace. I slept in Sokoto there and by the next day, I headed to Kebbi. I was told that I happened to be the first female biker on the Sokoto-Shagari-Aleeiro-Jega road. “With my arrival in Kebbi, I have been able to cover 85 percent of my trip. From Birnin Kebbi I went to Zaria, then Kaduna. Then, I headed to Niger State, where I slept in Minna.
From Minna I moved down to Kwara. “Kwara was the last place of my tour to the 19 northern states. At that point, by the time I took a picture of ‘welcome or farewell to Kwara’, I felt fulfilled. “From Kogi to Kwara, the bike’s mileage had clocked 5,356 kilometres. So, from Abeokuta riding all through the 19 northern states and back to the Ogun State capital was 5,920 kilometres.” Olayemi disclosed that one of her challenges in setting out on a tour is the financial burden.
“My trip to northern Nigeria cost me more than N1 million, I can’t say the exact amount. “In the north, the price of fuel over there is more than what I bought here. On a daily basis, I spent an average of N30, 000 on fuel. At times I covered 500 to 700 km depending on how close the next city was.
Scary moment
“Another very scary moment was my encounter with two men around Jigawa while heading to Kano. The two men came to where I had a stopover to take water. One was holding a gun and the other holding a cutlass. They were both facing me. “I was worried and scared. I don’t understand their language. I had to call the Prince of Potiskum. He said whether I had any challenge I should call him. I called him and explained the situation.
He asked me to hand over the phone to one of them. I was scared but I was able to do that. “They told him that they were fighting about something and I came in between them. I said I didn’t know what they were talking about. I guessed he was able to talk to them.
He just asked me to start my bike and start moving immediately. “I felt sick twice. The first time I was ill was in Jos. I felt maybe it was due to the environment. I was exposed to much cold. I was given some drugs by friends who I met there and I was able to recover quickly”.
Big ambitions
Olayemi expressed the optimism of traveling to Europe with her bike, saying: “My next trip should be Senegal; hopefully, I will go to Europe. “I should be able to get to Europe because this my last trip was equivalent to me getting to Europe considering that the whole distance I covered was 5,920 kilometres that’s the average of the whole of West Africa.” She said she hopes to marry a man that will allow her to continue biking “because that is one of the greatest challenges I’m having now”.
The 29-year-old works with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Ogun Command and holds a First Degree in Islamic Education from the prestigious University of Ibadan. Hafsoh also earned a Master's Degree in Educational Administrative and Planning from the National Open University.
"I went to training school in Lagos and I also have some friends who were able to educate me on biking from when I started. I trained for four weeks. I trained on weekends because of the nature of my job.
On touring the north, she said, "I love to explore; I love to see things my own way. The reason why I travelled to the northern parts of the country was because I have friends who live there and they come here and people say the North is not safe and you can’t go there, but that propelled me more to want to go and see things for myself.
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