Kunle Adeyanju: How Death Of Childhood Friend Inspired London To Lagos Charity Ride

It was American writer, Mark Twain, who said “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”. Before our eyes, a Nigerian adventurer, Kunle Adeyanju got on his motorcycle on April 19, 2022 to begin a journey from London to Lagos in a bid to raise money for the eradication of polio and the development of primary health in rural areas. 

65 years ago in 1957, another Nigerian, Mashood Olabisi Ajala got on his Vespa scooter coincidentally also in the month of April from the city of London to travel around the world. He would document his experiences in a travelogue titled: “An African Abroad.” Two Nigerian men, taking off from the same city, riding away on two wheels, same month 65 years apart, could we call it a coincidence?

Unlike Ajala who embarked on his trip for adventure’s sake, Adeyanju said his trip was for charity and has promised to auction his ‘Lion Heart’ bike and donate part of the proceeds to charity.

Adeyanju was born in 1978 in Offa, Kwara state. He joined the rotary club when he was an undergraduate at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.  After his graduation, he commenced his working career as a management trainee with British American Tobacco, working mainly in northern Nigeria.

He moved into the oil and gas sector in 2004 and was hired as head of marketing at Oando Gas and Power before joining Shell Petroleum in 2006 as Fuels and Bitumen manager and subsequently moved to occupy other roles in the organisation. Three years later, he set up Pelicans DNO where he is the chief operating officer. He is presently a doctoral student at the University of Arizona, USA.

Although he has children based in London and he has shuttled between Nigeria and the UK, he does not have a wife at the moment. His resolve to create awareness for the eradication of polio came from a personal experience. Growing up, he said he had a friend who could not join them in playing football due to polio.

“I knew what he went through before he finally passed on. So, I promised myself that I must do everything possible to ensure that another person doesn’t go through what my friend went through.”

Like Adeyanju, Ajala also schooled in the US. In fact, it was while studying there that he first made a name for himself when aged 23, bicycled 2,280 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Ajala moved to the US when he was 18 to study pre-medicine at the University of Chicago. Although Adeyanju did not study any medical-related course, the eradication of polio was the focus of his charity ride from London to raise awareness and funds.

Adeyanju’s historic London to Lagos motorcycle ride was not his first adventure. He has done a Lagos to Ghana and back to Lagos ride in the past and also climbed to the top of the Kilimanjaro mountain in 2009. This is reminiscent of Ajala’s adventurous spirit as he too did a short cross-country trip from Chicago to Los Angeles on a bicycle in 1952. The trip covered about 2,280 miles in 28 days.

Adeyanju’s intercontinental motorcycle ride from London to Lagos was supposed to cover 12,000km and the route plan was supposed to be London – France – Spain – Gibraltar – Morocco – Western Sahara – Mauritania – Senegal – the Gambia – Mali  – Cote d’Ivoire – Ghana – Togo – Benin – Lagos, Nigeria. However, the trip was extended to 41 days for various reasons. First, in Mali, his rear tire has a burst due to potholes along the road which also affected the wheel. Also, his entry into Cote D’Ivoire was slightly delayed due to immigration issues although it was later resolved. He also spent more days in Ghana than originally planned due to several programmes organised by the Rotary Club to spread the awareness of polio eradication.

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Like Adeyanju, Ajala’s round-the-world trip was not without incident. During this tour, he ran into trouble with immigration officers at border points. At the border between Israel and Palestine, Ajala said he was almost shot for speeding across without permission and was accused of spying for Israel.

Adeyanju’s adventure has made him a sort of continental hero as he documented his journey from country to country. Through pictures, videos and short narrations, he documented his experiences providing a glimpse of the people and places he encountered. He wrote about the Sahara desert and its wild sandy terrain and the extortion he encountered in Mauritania. He wrote fondly of Mali calling on ECOWAS to end the blockade in the country. When his entry into Cote D’Ivoire was delayed, he went to Burkina Faso and despite the country not being part of his plan, his short time there was memorable and the people there hospitable. From there on, it seemed as though every country on the West African strip was out to outdo the hospitality he received in the previous one. In Cote D’Ivoire, he met Zenab who would be a significant and recurring image in his journey. Ghana as usual showed why it is considered a sister to Nigeria as the country forced him to extend his stay by providing impressive hospitality and helping to spread the awareness of the call to end polio.

With Nigeria not like being outdone, his arrival at Seme Border on Sunday, May 29, was received by a parade of Rotarians and bikers. In the crowd was the now-popular Zenab who had flown in from Cote D’Ivoire to join the welcome train. It was the sort of reception and welcome befitting a heroic adventurer. A welcome Ajala the traveller would be proud of if he was alive as it was similar to the reception he got on February 28, 1958, when he made, what could best be described as, a triumphant entry into Ibadan Boys High School, his alma mata. In the school’s 80th anniversary commemorative magazine – ‘The Triumph of Resilience,’ published in October 2018, his visit was described as the greatest event of that year in Ibadan Boys’ High School:

“His triumphant entry to the school was marked with all the songs and reception which any school could offer. Accompanied by cyclists, auto-cyclists and a large crowd, he rode in his 150 c.c. motor cycle through the guard of honour formed by the boys. He was heartily, proudly and warmly received by the Principal, who, incidentally, was his master at school.”

Like Ajala, Adeyanju has etched his name into the annals of Nigerian adventurers. Like Ajala who made it to Ebenezer Obey’s song, perhaps another of the contemporary Nigerian artistes may sing his praise. Even if he does not write a book, his accounts, painted all over his Twitter thread, Instagram posts and Youtube pages are enough for a travelogue.