Omo Lile, as he prefers to be addressed, bent over to pack his clothes into a small backpack. He was ready to go home after offloading and uploading hundreds of bags of cement. He was still packing his clothes when someone called his name from afar. He tried to look behind for who was calling but he couldn’t tilt his neck. It had become so stiff that he had to turn his entire body before he could see the person calling him. Some days before, he noticed he couldn’t tilt his head to the sides but he thought it was the morning fatigue. After chatting with whoever was calling him, he tried to forcefully twist his neck but the pain was unbearable. As he was heading home, he told himself, that was the last time he would ever set foot inside the cement depot.
That was in January 2024. He woke up the following day and asked himself what next to do with his life. The cement depot was enough to sustain his feeding, but it was to the detriment of his health. He also knew he could do more with his life than carrying heavy bags of cement. One day, after taking a deep inspection of his area in Osogbo, he got the idea that would launch him into greater life goals: he would become a bike man.
The following day, he went straight to where he would purchase a motorcycle with zero money in his bank account. He got the motorcycle on loan for 1.5 million naira to pay up over several months. He had thought about it perfectly and he knew exactly how he was going to pay the money back.
“I knew what I was doing,” he told me.
In Osogbo, transportation within the city is seamless because there are blue buses which are considered cheaper than motorcycles. Before the hike in fuel prices and inflation, one could board the blue bus for as low as 50 naira. Yet, despite the fuel hikes, blue buses are still preferred to motorcycles which leaves most motorcycle riders with few customers. The blue buses zip through almost everywhere in the city at minimal fares, making them a preferred choice for daytime commuters. But Omo Lile knew what he was going to do to set himself apart from other riders. Although, unlike Lagos where motorcycles are banned in many areas, motorcycles remain a vital mode of transport, even with the popularity of the blue buses.
The first thing Omo Lile did was look for places with many bars and lounges. In Osogbo, bars, lounges and nightlife places are the most lucrative businesses in the city. On a single street, you can find five or six lounges and bars clustered within a short distance. After finding these places, Omo Lile decided he was not going to be working during the day, but at night. Buses don’t operate at midnight.
Since January last year, by 6 pm every day, he would set out to begin his day when others are heading back inside to sleep. He would stay at the entrances of lounges and bars to take people home. His day properly starts by 10 pm when almost no bike men would be available. Right then, he hikes his fees, and for places where he should have charged 500 naira, he would charge 1,500 naira. The money increases as it gets late into the night.
“Egbon, I made 60k one night with fuel of 5k. When I got home in the morning, all I did was have my bath, eat and sleep. I said to myself, we go again at night,” he said. I asked if he was not bothered about the danger of working at those hours and he said, “Money is in the mouth of danger o. Whoever has chest should enter,” he said in Yoruba, manoeuvring through the gallops of the untarred road.
“Egbon, I know I won’t do this okada for long seh. I have bigger plans for myself. Once I’m done with the payment of this motorcycle this March, I will move on to my next goal. No dulling.”
I asked if I could see him one afternoon to take some photos of him and ask more questions. He looked at me, the ray of light exposing his teeth as he laughed. “Egbon, e funny. I will be sleeping by that time.”
Omo Lile’s story tells that sometimes, in the face of challenges, there’s always room for reinvention. For him, the streets of Osogbo at night are more than just a means to an end—they’re a path to his dreams, one calculated ride at a time. His resolve is clear: no dulling.
***
Feature Image by Jedidiah Jordan for Pexels.
