Kunle Adeyanju, also known as ‘The Lion Heart’, travelled 41 days from London to Lagos on a motorcycle. He tells ADEBIMPE OLAJIGA about the journey.
Here is an exclusive interview between the rider and Punch correspondence :
Kindly introduce yourself.
My name is Adekunle Adeyanju. I am from Kwara State, Offa to be precise. My marital status is complicated. I have children but the other part is complicated.
Can you please summarise your trip? How was it? It’s been a heck of a ride. It’s been loaded with experience and pain, lots of pain but also lots of beautiful moments. That’s what life is. It’s a combination of both. It’s been a wonderful experience.
How long have you been in London and what’s the aim of your trip?
I am Nigerian-based but my family lives in London. We’ve been there for about thirty years. I shuttle between London and Lagos.
Can you name the countries you passed through?
So I started from London to France and to Spain, then I crossed into Morocco and visited Casablanca. I also passed through Mauritania, St. Louis, Dakar, Mali, Bamako, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Accra, Lome, Benin before getting to Lagos.
What’s the motivation behind this trip?
For me, it’s all about giving back. It’s all about using my skills and lifestyle to touch the lives of the underprivileged. I look at it that every one of us has been blessed. Some people may say theirs are not enough but we have all been blessed. So those things you’ve been given, how can you use them to touch the lives of other people?
On this polio project, what was the push?
For me, when I started, I said we were going to use it to support a noble cause. It’s a personal thing for me because I knew someone who had polio. As a boy, when I was growing up, we used to play football and swim. But a friend of mine couldn’t join us. Not because he didn’t want to but because he couldn’t do it as he was limited by the polio disease. 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.
I covered twelve thousand kilometres for the whole journey. I didn’t ride during the whole 41 days. There were some days when I had to do some humanitarian work which had to do with going to the field to immunise children, meeting with people who were volunteers doing this work, encouraging them and engaging them.
How do you intend to go back and what’s the plan for your power bike?
(Laughs) I will fly back. I am going to auction the bike and the proceeds will go to charity.
You’ve been talking a lot about Zenab? What’s the plan for her? What’s so special about her and tell us how you met her?
I knew Zenab six months ago and we’ve been talking. I discovered that she is a lady with a very good heart, she’s very tough. If you ask me, do I like her a lot? The answer is yes. Do I want to be with her? The answer is yes. Whether she will say yes or not, I don’t know. But yes, it is something I’d love to do.
We’ve had so many people talk about going through that journey, trying to do the same thing you have done. What do you have to say to them?
Well, if you want to do the ride, I encourage everyone to go ahead and do it. It will test your limits. It will inspire you. You will discover your true self. But I also read comments from a lot of people thinking that is how they can get to Europe. It is a lot difficult. It is easier to go by flight because, at every point, we have a very difficult border coast.
