FIVE (5) WRONG BELIEFS ABOUT POWERBIKERS IN NIGERIA

It is now a public knowledge that the daily usage of Power bikes in Nigeria is on the increase especially in these major cities of Nigeia: Lagos, Portharcourt and Abuja. Terrible traffic congestions, heavy dependence on road transportation and daily productive man-hour that is being wasted in traffic are the major reasons for this development, hence, some gentle men and women opted to devise a means of beating the time and get ahead of others. This has also opened a new line of discussion among Nigerians with respect to the relevance and implications of riding powerbikes by some weird set of people.

Questions regarding these line of thoughts have been raised, the legality of the use of motorbikes on Nigerian roads, the minimum level of training required of a person to ride a powerbike on our roads, the cost of acquiring powerbike, are special licences required to ride a powerbike, are there special traffic laws applicable to powerbike riders in the country, and a host of other questions.

It is very important to shed some light on some public perceptions about powerbikes and their riders, especially as it relates to safety and the attributes of powerbikers.

Here are the among public perception about powerbikers;        

    1. POWERBIKERS ARE DRUG DEALERS/ADDICTS – Unfortunately, this is well rooted in the sub-conscious of many Nigerians that power bikes are used for conveying illicit drugs within the country and that the riders are mostly drug addicts who cannot properly handle the heavy bikes without being intoxicated. Trust me, most power bikers that you see out there are responsible people who specializes in several walks of life. I would urge people to kindly drop the erroneous beliefs that powerbikes are secret means of conveying hard drugs within the country. We are mostly professionals who take pride in doing legitimate deals and businesses.

   2. POWERBIKERS ARE EXTRAVAGANT- This erroneous belief is connected to the fact that members of the public are aware that powerbikes are expensive toys not to talk of its gears and accessories. It is erroeneouly believed that it is only a person who has satisfied his/her basic needs of life such as food, housing, clothing, health that can think of owning such a very risky and expensive toy.

   3. POWERBIKERS ARE ARROGANT PEOPLE- Truth be told, a lot of confidence is needed to be in control of powerbikes when compared to driving a regular car (four wheel), the subject of confidence is severally emphasized in rider training classes, hence, the display of this confidence has been erroneously adjudged by some Nigerians as oppression and hatred for people who are not powerbikers. Some even belief that the arrogance is rooted in the high cost of acquiring the toys, as questionable as this may be, many Nigerians belief that power bikers are jut out there for show-offs.

    4. POWERBIKERS ARE OUTLAWS- Unfortunately many people have this belief that powerbikers are special breed of people who are above the law, this is unconnected to the fact that most powerbikers are affluent and influential people. Trust me, a system with a lot of loopholes in its traffic law only encourages defaulters and not compliants. Disgracefully, up till this year 2023, traffic light offenders cannot be tracked in Nigeria because the government still rely on law enforcement agents to pursue and apprehend offenders. When a powerbiker is in a  point to evade arrest by law enforcement officers, because he/she is assured of his bike’s speeding capacity, he will be left with no other option than to bend the traffic rules for his or her convenience .

5. POWERBIKERS ARE RECKLESS – The speed, the noise, the maneuvering and the acrobatic display with which motorbikers move on our roads are sometimes so terrifying that made many motorists and other roads want to leave the road whenever they sight power bikes coming their way. As a matter of fact, many Nigerians have equated powerbikes to automatic death trap for anyone who rides them.

A lot of public education and orientation still needs to be done to members of the public and powerbikers themselves so that we can attain a great milestone on safety and sanity on our Roads in Nigeria.

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