20 FEATURE Need for speed: Riding with Abuja’s bikers
sports biking. I now ride a tourer,” he added.
Talking about retirement, Adnan confessed that he is no longer an active biker, even if he remains a trustee of the 09 Club. Back in the day, with about five others, he used to ride in Abuja. Then, sports bikes weren’t popular, and they developed a habit of riding every Saturday. There was a more mature gentleman amongst them, who suggested that they form a club, like there are in Lagos, and Port Harcourt. They founded their club, getting the name ‘09’ from the telephone code for Abuja.
Adnan had to retire for several reasons. He was given a traditional title, and then there was a lot of pressure from his family. Finally, there was a time he had his bike parked for six months, due to a nasty accident that had him unable to lift his arm up for six years. “But I will not say I am totally retired. I’m just resting. Being a biker is something, to be honest, that you can’t get out of. It’s in your system. But if I do go back to biking, I’ll probably be what I call a ‘good weather biking person’ who goes out once a month on a Sunday, visits fellow bikers, and later parks his bike at home,” Adnan pointed out, adding that he has no regrets and if given the chance to go back in time, will still be a biker.
“In my opinion, there are two types of bikers. There’s the one that just wants to buy the bike and pose. Also, there’s the one who’s a bit of a piston head, really loves the hobby, and is really into it,” Adnan said. “I’m more of a hobby person.”
Chukwueke explained that they spend a lot of time trying to correct the negative impression people have about biking. “But I have found with my interactions with officials in Nigeria that there’s a lot of ignorance about it,” he said. “I can bet you that out of all the members of our club, there’s not one person I can call irresponsible, who goes speeding down the roads, exhaust pipes roaring and scaring drivers off the road.”
Once, when there was a bombing at Banex Plaza and security reports said the person came on a sports bike, the machine was banned in Abuja. So, people riding through Abuja to Jos had their bikes seized. “It was chaos and madness for a while, and we had to go and speak to the authorities because the military were harassing bikers and seizing bikes,” he said.
Chukwueke added that what was infuriating was that as far as the authorities were concerned, all bikers were the same. “I had to ask one of them, if somebody driving a Mercedes Benz robs a bank, do you ban all Mercedes Benz cars in Abuja? He couldn’t answer me, because from his mind-set, all bikers are the same.” Chukwueke added that there’s something 09 Club does that they don’t broadcast, not even on social media. Every month they host a charity event where members put a certain amount of money together. “What we typically do is get up on a Saturday morning, pick a hospital and ride there. We get there, talk to the head matron to please give us five or ten indigent patients whom N2,000 or N5,000 can make a lot of difference to. When they do, we hand over the cash to them directly and leave, no hoopla,” he told Daily Trust, adding that they also visit orphanages.
The bikers’ charity work appears to be endless. “If I was on my own, I probably won’t be doing this or even think about it,” Chukwueke confessed.“But because I have people, brothers I spend time with - and we know we are privileged - we decided to give back to the society together. It encourages all of us. We tell each other to prepare, and tell our families we are about to go on another charity event, and they send whatever they can.”
In addition to all these, the club serves as a business for members. “There’s a lounge and rooms, like a hotel. This is because we found that when we ride, we go to people’s establishments to rest, and we spend money. We decided to set up a business for ourselves, and we did and somehow it’s profitable. I like the fact that we are able to employ a certain number of people. We have a wage bill that tops over N20 million a year, all from a hobby and sport we love. From this, the club gets funds it puts back into things like charity,” Chukwueke explained.
The 09 Motorcycle Club’s next stop is a village somewhere. There, they are going to look for people to help. “These stories are never told, except the negative ones,” Chukwueke shrugged, as he got on his bike and rode away.
In my opinion, there are two types of bikers. There’s the one that just wants to buy the bike and pose. Also, there’s the one who’s a bit of a piston head, really loves the hobby, and is really into it,” Adnan said