Andrew Onalaja, A British born Nigerian Architect has
revealed why he decided to ride bike from London to
Nigeria. Andrew who has traveled to more than 100
countries, is a popular personality in the London social
scene.



He shared his story with Lekki Express
What will make a family man with a wife and five
children to embark on such a journey?


“I was motivated when I heard that some of my friends
were planning to ride to Nigeria from the UK, even
though I had no intention of riding a motor-cycle at that
time. I have always wanted to travel to Lagos from
London by car. So when I was in Cape Verde in 2012, I
saw a V-strom Suzuki driving on a bad road with its
suspension oscillating esthetically. I said to myself that
day ‘Andy, that thing go suit you ooo’. That’s how
biking captured my imagination.


“When I got back to London from Cape Verde, I met with
my friends who were planning the biking trip that I will
start to learn how to ride a bike so I can join you guys
on the trip. They started laughing at me, saying that it is
too late and my hand will not be strong enough on the
bike. One of them said if I’m serious, I should do what I
have to do so I can join them. That is how I started
learning how to ride. I took the test and passed after
series of attempt till I was certified to ride.”
Before he went on the journey, his family was not fully
supportive;




“My wife was not happy about the journey, but there is
nothing she could do to stop me because I have decided
I want to do it. So the only thing she could do is to
support me, although she was worried at some point to
the extent that if I don’t call her at the end of each day,
she won’t be able to sleep. That was a lot of stress and
strain on the family. My daughter was very concerned. In
actual fact, when you take up a journey like that, you
just don’t know if you will ever see your family again
because you know it can be very dangerous and it’s the
period of time when al-Qaida, robbers and kidnappers
was all over North Africa.”


Andrew Began from Britain to Spain and From Spain to
Africa. He shared it all and his experience on the way;
“I first got a ferry from Portmouth, UK to Bilbao, Spain. It
was around November, then, the weather was cold
throughout Europe, assuming it was during summer, I
would have ride from London to Dover to France then to
Spain, but the ferry played a big role in cutting the
journey short. It took one full day to cross Spain from
North to South. At the Southern part of Spain, I took a
ferry to Morocco. Upon my arrival to Morocco, I was
happy that I am in Africa.






“In Morocco, I had to process a visa to go to Mauritania
since Mauritania is no longer part of ECOWAS. The visa
processing wasted part of my time in Casablanca. I
spent 3 days inside Morocco because it is a big country.
Bear in mind that I was still a learner, although certified
and tested, I fell off the bike once inside Morocco
because I forgot there was a stand in the bike which I
didn’t pull down. So from Morocco, I got to Western
Sahara, this is a region controlled by Moroccans. From
Western Sahara, I got to somewhere called ‘No Man’s
Land’. This is a stretch of land between Western Sahara
and Mauritania. This was the worst and hardest part of
the journey because there was no road; it was just
mountains, sands, rocks, toxic waste, and land mines
e.t.c. I had my second fall here. By and large, I made it
to the capital of Mauritania and stayed in a hotel owned
by a Cameroonian. Mauritania can be described as a
place where the Arab world meets the black world.
Something occurred to me when I was leaving
Mauritania, the people at the border wanted to collect
extra money to stamp my British and Nigeria passport
but I ignored them till I made my way to the Senegalese
border.





“They said Ghana was going to be a problem and behold
it was! I slept at the Ivory Coast-Ghana border for 3 days
because I had to wait for them to do the necessary paper
work before I can enter into the country; also they had
to put a tracker on my bike so they can track my
movement in the country. I paid $300 for the tracker. On
the 3rd day after all the paper work was done, I rode to
Elmina where I stayed 2 nights. I visited the Elmina Slave
Fort popularly called Elmina Castle; it was a depressing
tour because I toured the gate-of-no-return where the
white men used in transporting our people as slaves. It’s
an emotional place that can make any Blackman to fight
every Whiteman he sees on his way. From Elmina I rode
to Accra where I lodged in a big hotel called La Palm
Beach Hotel, the workers there were rude, it was in the
hotel that I noticed the animosity of Ghanaians towards
Nigerians, they don’t like us. I only spent 1 night there
because the attitude of the staffs there doesn’t seem
hospitable. I left Accra the next day and rode towards
Aflao border where I met with the immigration officer
who has been calling my phone to monitor my
movement while I was in Elmina and Accra. The
immigration officer removed my tracker and I proceeded
towards Togo without any problem. Togo was nice; the
hotels are beautiful with moderate rate. I had to fix my
bike in Lome because I notice some of the wires had
melted, it took 3 days.”



Where was the emotional part of the journey for him?


“That will be within the borders of Senegal and Mali.
There is a small border town where a lot of activities
take place; it’s a busy place because Lorries and trucks
pass through there to make it to Mali which is a
landlocked country. I was in the border town when I
suddenly heard some girls speaking Pidgin English; I
called one of them and ask where she came from, she
replied by ‘I am from Nigeria ooh’. This girl looks like an
18years old, as young as my daughter. I asked her what
she’s doing there, she replied by saying ‘I be prostitute
oooh’, I was shocked and at the same time inquisitive.
She opened up to me and explained how those
traffickers tricked them that they are going to take them
to Europe, upon getting to that border, they seized their
passport and told them that this is where they will start
work. They have no passport, no means of getting home
and no hope, all they do is prostitution, and the
proceeds from prostitution is shared among those who
are controlling them so they can’t save enough to return
home. They are used as sex slaves. If I can remember
well, there were atleast 30 Nigerian girls in that border
and they range between 16 to 40 years old. It was shame
and very depressing, I always reflect on the memory of
that border every time. The only thing I could do for
those girls was to empty my pocket and give them
money, some of them even gave me their phone number
and told me that I should remember them when I get to
Nigeria, I almost cried I felt sober and weak.”



He got to Benin and Togo before reaching Nigeria;
“I got to Benin Republic after days of fun and relaxation
in Togo. I did not feel too good in Benin Republic,
though, I don’t know why, my vibes were bad, and my
instinct told me to get out of that country as soon as
possible. I just headed straight to the Seme border,
where I was asked to pay 40,000CFA which is around $
60, I had no choice than to pay. I left Benin side and
rode to the Nigerian side of the border. To my
astonishment, I was given a grand welcome, I didn’t pay
anything, everyone is just welcoming me, I even wanted
to give them a tip; they said ‘no you’ve suffered,
welcome home’.”



Will he do this again?
“Definitely not by bike, I will do it by car and for a longer
period. I will travel more extensively within each
country.”



Source: http://www.abelabel.com/2015/12/24/nigerian-man-who-rode-a-bmw-bike-from-london-to-lagos-says-he-will-not-do-it-again-shares-his-story/

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Is he for real

Wow what a feat. The guy should go into the Guinness book of record as the first Nigerian to achieve such

No Phishure

How many days does he spent on the road