THE RIDE THAT BECAME A MEMORY
You heard it before you saw it.
The engine.
The sudden turn.
The rush through traffic.
For years, the okada was part of the rhythm of Benin City — carrying workers, traders, students and families from one place to another, quickly and affordably.
But its story carries an interesting Edo connection.
Before okada became a word associated with motorcycles, Okada Air carried people through the skies.
Founded in 1983 by Benin-born businessman Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, the airline became one of Nigeria's notable private aviation ventures. Over time, the name Okada became associated with another kind of movement — not through the skies, but through the streets.
From the sky to the road, the name remained a symbol of movement.
Today, commercial motorcycles are no longer permitted within much of metropolitan Benin City. But removing the okada from the roads did not remove it from the city's memory.
It remains in photographs.
In stories.
In the memories of people who once depended on it.
And that is why this image matters.
Not simply a man on a motorcycle, but a face of a city in motion.
Edo@35 — Faces of a Legacy
Some things leave the streets, but never leave the story.
