Meet the Nigerian woman crossing Africa on a motorbike

DW (English)

If all goes well, Nigerian singer Ebaide Joy will be be the first African woman to ride from Kenya to Nigeria on a motorcycle. DW met up with her just before she set off on her adventure.

Transcript

00:00 Meet Ebaide Joy as she makes some minute checks ahead of her long journey.

00:07 Her mechanic is giving advice on what to do if the motorbike breaks down on the road.

00:11 Ebaide can barely contain her excitement at the wide open roads ahead of her.

00:16 "Knowing a lot of things could happen along the way, wild animals, bad roads, no electricity,

00:26 no internet, those things are the adventure, those things that make your adrenaline pump,

00:31 those things that make your blood hot and run fast through your veins, that's adventure

00:36 in my own definition and that's exactly what I'm looking forward to and oh my god I cannot

00:42 begin to explain how elated I am about everything.

00:45 I can't wait to experience it all."

00:47 Ebaide loves adventure.

00:49 After a back injury 10 years ago that almost left her lame, she has now decided life is

00:54 simply too fleeting not to be lived to the fullest.

00:57 "I've been looking forward to being stopped by policemen and getting flirted with, policemen

01:03 like to flirt with female bikers, I've experienced that first hand.

01:06 I'm looking forward to not understanding people's languages or people thinking I don't understand

01:10 their languages like Swahili and speaking a lot of Swahili and thinking I don't understand

01:13 because they heard my accent and they know I'm from Nigeria.

01:15 I'm looking forward to the challenges on the road, the border crossing and everything."

01:18 Mombasa's motorcycle chapter knows that Ebaide's solo journey is audacious but they are all

01:23 behind her.

01:24 "It's refreshing to see an African woman being on the bike.

01:28 Yes, you've seen one or two others who maybe have tried it but I love that she's young,

01:35 taking up such a great challenge.

01:37 It's amazing to see because it's something that many young people will look forward to

01:42 and look up to and we're very proud of her for doing that."

01:46 A brief goodbye before fellow bikers escort Ebaide out of the city.

01:50 The first leg of her trip across the continent, she already has her eyes set on her final

01:55 destination.

01:56 "Barriers are possible to break through.

01:58 When I get to Lagos, it will be so motivating for me.

02:03 It will be a validation for me.

02:04 I went from East Africa to West Africa on my own.

02:07 Oh my God, when I get to Lagos it will be on another level.

02:10 Just knowing that, oh my God, in this lifetime I achieved this.

02:12 It's worth celebrating."

02:13 Ebaide still has all her long journey ahead of her and she'll be updating followers on

02:19 social media all along the way.

02:21 The journey of a lifetime from a woman determined to live life in the first lane.

02:26 (thunder rumbling)

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