What Okada has joined... Passengers of opposite sex find love on bike

By HENRY UMAHI - Nigeria
By law, commercial motorcyclists otherwise known as okada are required to carry one passenger at a time. But many of them flout the rule by carrying two or more thereby increasing the fatalities and injuries when accidents occur.

Interestingly, sometimes the pair being conveyed together, sitting pelvic-to-buttock or buttock-to-pelvic, on the motorcycle, is a man and a woman. While some are friends or family members going out together, some are total strangers.
Some people question the appropriateness of total strangers, a man and a woman, sitting that close, many intimate relationships have developed from such. In fact, many lovers and spouses met on such voyage.
Alphonsus Ibeh, a commercial motorcyclist, offered a glimpse into how such relationships evolve.
“Sometimes when you carry a man and a woman on the bike, they start talking and before you know it they introduce and exchange telephone numbers. In such cases, when they alight at their destination, the man will pay the fare for both. Again, sometimes when they get to their destination, they stand together and talk some more or they even walk away in the same direction,” he explained.
Another okada rider, Edward Igboke, said that sometimes passengers, who were total strangers at the take off point, begin to caress each other shortly afterwards.
He said: “This may sound unbelievable but it is the truth. Sometimes when you carry a man and a woman, before long they start romancing while on motion. Most times these people had not known each other before then. They just meet for the first time and start talking and before you say Jack Robinson, the man will start fondling the girl’s breasts right on the bike. And if I notice that kind of thing, I warn them because if they lose control, they can easily make the bike to fall.”
He however added that he has also witnessed instances whereby a female passenger will accuse her male counterpart of sexual harassment, leading to hot exchange of words.
According to him, “just the other day, a female passenger, who was sitting between me and a male passenger, urged me to stop so that she could change her sitting position. When I asked what was wrong with where she was sitting, she said that the male passenger was ‘pressing her buttocks with his manhood.’ That comment infuriated the guy and they quarrelled seriously.” Because of this on-bike romance, some parts of the city banned it unless when the two came together as many ladies sitting sandwiched in between the rider and a male passenger sometimes disembark with wet rear through a smear from the man.
Segun, a panel beater told Saturday Sun that he met his wife, Bukky, a hairdresser, on a motorcycle two years ago. They got married barely six months later. The marriage is blessed with a set of twins – a boy and a girl.
Bukky told their story. “Normally, I don’t share bike with strangers. But that fateful day, I had no choice. That period, there was scarcity of buses and motorcycles on the road because of strike. After waiting at the bus stop for a long time, when an okada appeared, Segun hopped on. I also managed to climb the okada because we were heading in the same direction and I had waited at the bus stop for too long. As we moved, we started talking about the state of the nation, how people are subjected to all manner of sufferings by those in charge. At the end of the day, we became friends and exchanged telephone numbers.
“He started calling me once in a while and I later got to know that he is from Ogun State just like me. One thing later led to another and we became closer. We got married after about six months of meeting. Today, our marriage is blessed with a set of twins – a boy and a girl. It shows that one can actually meet one’s life partner anywhere.”
Meg, a student of the Lagos State Polytechnic, also told Saturday Sun that she met her boyfriend, Ephraim, a Computer Engineer, on a motorcycle last January. Radiating with happiness, the pretty girl volunteered that Ephraim has not proposed to her yet but their relationship is cruising blissfully.
While some ladies would not share the seat on a motorcycle with a man they know not, others actually look forward to being paired with a male passenger. The latter group ‘cooperate’ with their male co-passenger, giving the hint that they are ready to mingle. For them, it is no big deal and if they conduct themselves accordingly, the least they can get is that the man will pay their fare.
According to Blessing, a salesgirl, “I have sat with men on bike several times. Sometimes, the men pay my fare but that is where it ends because the moment I get down from the bike, I will walk away. It has happened several times, I don’t see anything to it. The fact that a man’s body touched yours does not mean anything. I think it all depends on what you have in mind.”
For Silas Amiara, a trader at Ladipo market, sharing a seat with a lady is an added benefit of riding a motorcycle, especially if she is generously endowed.
With a mischievous smile playing at the corners of his mouth, he enthused: “My brother, I don’t complain about sitting with a lady on a bike. In fact, I consider it as one of the fringe benefits of okada. It is better if the seat is small and the lady is well formed. That way, there will be no space between us. It does not matter whether I am sitting in the middle or at the back. If I am sitting at the middle, at least she will be touching my back with her breasts. And if I sit behind her, I will also enjoy her backside. So, whichever way I enjoy myself, particularly if traffic is tight and we spend longer time on the bike.”
But the saying that one man’s meat is another man’s poison rings true for David Idoko, a youth corps member. According to him: “I cannot be found dead sitting on okada with a girl I do not know because some of the girls have body odour. Also, you do not know the spirit she is carrying about, which may have negative effect on you. So, count me out.”
Meanwhile, what okada has joined together let no man put asunder.