Last night, I stopped this bike man to take me home, the price he named was meager compared to the distance and time of the night. No bike man will take #200 to my location at that time of the night. It is always within the range of #300 to #500. I automatically knew he had no clue about where I was headed.

When he named his price, I didn’t bargain with him, I just hopped on his bike and we moved. Along the way, I branched somewhere to buy something, then his phone rang and he picked it and told the person he will be home soon. The call was either from his wife, child or relative, it was obviously from a family member. He had the conversation in Ebira and that was easy to ascertain.

On our way, conversation ensued and I asked him why his price was so low compared to other bike men or he doesn’t know where I’m headed? He opened up to me that he’s new into the business and know little about the whole thing.

I can be very inquisitive, so I again asked him if he is one of these civil servants who use “Okada” as side hustle during evening hours? He said he won’t be riding “okada” to feed his family if he was a civil servant. He only choose to explore this option because there’s no job anywhere for him and he can’t continue to seat idly. I objected his point and made reference to other civil servants who does same to enhance the sustainability of their families.

He further stretched that he’s not totally writing off “okada” as a side hustle a bad idea, but talking about his own condition, as the bike isn’t his personal property unlike others, it’s a high-purchase thing and he has to deliver everyday (you get a bike at almost 50% or above, higher than the market price from a person or company and pay them in bit for a stipulated time).

“So, what certificate do you have?” I asked, thinking he would say O’level, OND or even NCE. He said; “I have a Degree in Maritime Engineering”. I was shocked. 

“From which institution?”, I asked again. “Arab Academy for Science, Technology, Egypt”, he replied. Ahhhh!

According to him, about twenty five (25) of them were sponsored by the government to Egypt 17-years-ago, upon returning to the country, they went back to the streets with their acquired knowledge and crafts. Except for few of them who had helpers.

At this point, I OFF-ed until I got to my destination, emptied my pocket for him as against our initial bargain, got his number and name and went to bed thinking about the need to learn the new national anthem. There’s need to hail Nigeria in the morning, afternoon and night.