DELE Jones is a young Nigerian with a lofty ambition. He carries this ambition on his gentle shoulder. With a rolling, motion-laden footgear called roller skate that is only glided on smooth surface, Dele practices, and sometimes, does some stunts.

In his teenage years, he wakes up early everyday to glide and skate, not just for pleasure, but also, in the hope that some day he will be crowned national champion, and possibly, have a shot at the African crown.

“I want to be a world champion,” he says.

But Dele is not the only one with such ambition. Paul Ikechukwu Orusa and Emmanuel Mbachu are also aiming at becoming champions on the skateboard.

A new generation sport, skating has enjoyed tremendous growth since its introduction into the country. It is widely embraced in Lagos and other major cities in the country by young Nigerians.

Seen as alternative to football, basketball and other sports, it’s fun to skate, and all it requires to be on top of the game are stability and balance.

Highway skate rolling is quite a unique recreation game that is being transformed into an interesting sport in Nigeria. Its attraction is the dexterity and guts of roller skaters along highways.

In fact, it is becoming rather fashionable to see young lads these days on the highways clinging on to the rears of commuter buses in a bid to either increase their strides or to attract attention of onlookers to them (possibly to show off their skating expertise).

At other times, they skate in between two buses and move along, only to disengage moments later. The real reasons or attraction for these dangerous acts are still unknown.

In fact, when skaters are in full gear demonstrating different styles, it is always interesting for onlookers and passers by who are fascinated by the moves and expertise that they bring to bear on their skating. For the everyday people, they stand and watch wondering if what the skaters are doing is actually real or something they see in movies.

One is compelled to ask: How safe is the skater? What of other road users? What is the major attraction to skating in Nigeria? Why are more and more young people taking interest in this fun game? What are the possible risks attached to the sport? How can skating (highway or not) be adequately regulated for the safety of all?

ASIDE from the great fun derived from it, it also has commercial attraction. In recent times, following the ban of Okada on highway in Lagos, some companies and small business owners now ‘contract’ these youths to deliver letters or documents for them while parting with a few naira. In other words, these youths are sent as courier service providers.

These young ‘contractors’ are seen as cheaper alternatives to these real ones in paid employment.

On the other hand, these boys don’t mind the fact that they are paid peanuts as long as they get paid for the services.  At other times, they get jobs from companies to participate in road shows, hired for adverts and products launch.

Currently, these skaters can be seen on Airport, Ikorodu, Oshodi, Mushin, Ojuelegba and National Stadium and other places, gliding alongside the sidewalks, on the streets, around some business districts and sometimes carelessly hanging on rears of speeding vehicles.

Sometimes, many of them form single lines on the road and hold on to one another at the waist as they glide along. At times, they hold-on to motorcycles, commercial vehicles or tricycles in motion for two to three kilometers at a stretch.

At the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos where they usually train, investigations revealed that there are six clubs: United Gliders, Crazy Wheels, Wonderous Move Skaters, Extreme Wheels Club, Young Quality International Skaters Club and Inline Skaters, all under the umbrella of Roller Sports Federation of Nigeria (RSFN).

They have their distinct gears, hence, each corner of the stadium is coloured by different groupings — green, yellow, red and purple. There seems to be no age restriction as kids and grown ups are seen strutting their stuffs in their skate canvass or plastic adorned gliding footwear, which is another material the roller skate is made of.

Despite its fun and benefits, skating looks like a dangerous stunt because it is being abused in Nigeria. Skaters go to the extreme of experimenting their skills on busy highways, putting their lives at risk while indulging in needless stunts.

The Guardian gathered from some of them that the decision to skate on busy roads was a strategy to avoid hopping buses and parting with transport fare, others claimed that bets are usually placed on the risky adventure.

One of the skaters, Orusa, who is in his early 20s, said he has been skating for two years. A member of the Wonderous Move Skaters (WMS) with his twin brother, he skates to keep fit, saying some of his colleagues in the stadium actually make a living out of it.

According to him, “skating has been wonderful, worthwhile and joyful too. One of the major gains is that it builds morals. You leave your home and come down here to involve yourself in something worthwhile, instead of being involved in something immoral. Basically, skating keeps me fit, busy and focused.”

Esosa Idehen, another skater, said he has made up his mind to take it up as a career. He noted that he got motivation while watching TV, particularly ESPN.

Asked if he had done anything extreme, the teenager said he had hung-on to a moving bus before, but was afterwards advised against it. He said he did so because he wanted to do something out of the ordinary.

Another teenager, Mbachu, who has been skating for seven years, said he’s been injured while skating.

To him, skating is risky, that is why he trains with the club. He said life itself is about risks and one takes risks to learn, so he takes the risks to learn.

His greatest achievement in skating is coming third in a marathon organised at the National Stadium and he hopes to project Nigeria to the world through his skate shoes, if given opportunity.

Mr. Chidozie Nwankwo, coach of WMS, who spoke with The Guardian at the heat of a training session, said the sport, which has two categories of people, those who joined for recreation and others who want to make a living out of it, is so much embraced that it has become a family affair.

“There is nothing fatal about skating. If it were fatal, nobody would come and join us. And also, as a parent, if you know something is risky, you wouldn’t allow your kids into it. But here, you have some parents who bring their children from different parts of Lagos to learn how to skate. Sometimes, the entire family comes to skate here. They do it for recreation and fun,” he said.

On the safety angle of the sport, the coach revealed that his students are trained and warned to avoid bad moves when they are in motion and, if they eventually make these moves, they have been equipped with the requisite knowledge on what to do to avoid serious injuries.

Said he: “There are no hazards for skaters on the highways. That is why we have strategies we teach in clubs. We train them on how to dodge vehicles, how to move on their own, and what to do when they hear sounds of oncoming vehicles on the highway. Aside from these, we also train them on how to move on sand as well as in the rain. Since the tyres are quite slippery on water, it takes special caution to skate in the rain. But more importantly, it’s only professionals that are allowed on the highways. We have three level of expertise here and it’s only the professionals, who are experts and have been licensed, that can skate on the highways.”

He noted that the FRSC sometimes advises and accommodates them in some of their programmes, adding that they are both working together to address the menace of unauthorised highway skaters.

“To do this, every skating club in Lagos State has volunteered professional skaters to form a Taskforce that monitors the highways. When they identify unauthorised skaters, they either seize their skates or arrest them. The Road Safety people are supportive and they monitor some of the competitions we organize,” he stated.

But the FRSC claimed it has no official collaboration with them as claimed by the coach. Mr. Adeoye Irelewuye, Sector Head of Operations, Lagos Unit, told The Guardian that skaters are part of the road users but not aware of any collaboration with them.

“All I can say is that they are more at risk because they are exposed road users, they are more or less like pedestrians, they run higher risk of crash or injury because of the speed at which they move. Skating has safety rules, if you want to skate, you must avoid major roads and busy routes too. You are expected to wear protective clothing like bright or reflective clothes, safety helmet, elbow, kneel and chin guards to prevent injury to the skaters,” he said.

Irelewuye claimed that there are rules guiding skaters, just like pedestrians and cyclists because they are part of road users, adding that anybody using the road must observe all traffic rules and regulations.

He stressed that one of the peculiar rules applicable to skaters is that they must not hold-on to moving vehicles, they must not zigzag or cross the road without checking for on-coming vehicles, because it is a dangerous act. He declared that skaters are subjected to more rules than other road users.

“The most important thing is for Government and other relevant agencies to enlighten skaters on the risk attached to unguided or unsupervised skating especially highway skating in Lagos. While it is advisable to skate within the GRAs, Estates, and inner streets and in sparsely populated areas of Lagos, care should be taken to largely avoid the major roads and highways to avoid injuries or undue loss of lives.

On the whole, the watchword is “caution”. Any body living in Lagos would readily attest to the fact that Lagos roads are not the best for the skating business. But if the sport must thrive, government and club owners and leaders must collaborate to set the operating rules.