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The 20th edition of the annual Calabar Carnival, which is held every December, may have come and gone, the memories of the excitement that came with the crowd-pulling event hosted by the Cross River State Government in Nigeria will surely linger for some time to come.
The Bikers’ Parade, introduced into the annual Calabar Festival by former Governor Liyel Imoke, featured no fewer than 150 bikers from seven clubs at the last edition . The seven clubs include Metallic Knights, Free Wheelers, Tinapa, Maxk Riders, De Scorpion Motorcycle Club, Diamond Motorcycle Club and D-Invincible Motorbike Club.
The well-kitted bikers dazzled fun-seekers with the showcase of their riding skills, stunts and dexterity on their exotic power-bikes and two-wheelers right from the start at the Millenium Park, Calabar and through the 12-kilometre Carnival route.
Safety was however the watchword in order to avoid a repeat of the sad experience at the 19th edition in 2022 when a careless vehicle broke the barricade and rammed into the exotic cars parade leading to the death of over ten people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
The immediate past president, Metallic Knights Motorcycle Club, Akin Ricketts, who also encouraged the bikers to see biking as a peaceful hobby, stressing the need to consider safety in order to forestall unforeseen incidents, however, noted that “what happened in 2022 was a motor accident, not a motorcycle (accident).”
He added, “As a club, our motto is ride safe, ride home; so we are riding in our protective garb and the pinions too.”
President of the Tinapa Motorcycle Club and Latin America Motorcycle Club, Calabar, Captain Fuller, said, “We do a lot of charity work as bikers, especially in schools and most of the communities we visit. We also have responsible members of society from northern Nigeria, the western zone, south-east and south-south here.”
The State Deputy governor, Peter Odey, who stood in for Governor Bassey Otu at the flag-off ceremony, stressed the need for the bikers to be safety-conscious, saying, “Safety is our watchword, please no biker should ride without a helmet. Please, conduct this activity with safety, ‘’ even as he assured that “by next year, myself and the Executive Governor will participate in this activity fully, we will get our motorbikes and other materials needed.”
Governor Otu, who maintained that making the Calabar Carnival a bigger platform remains one of his campaign promises, said: “This is one of our campaign promises. We promised that we are definitely going to bring the carnival back and on a bigger platform. What you have seen is the tip of the iceberg because we are going to move it to the next level.”
Chairman, Carnival Calabar Commission, Gabe Onah, also re-echoed the need to prioritise safety as he maintained that the Bikers’ Parade was to identify with bikers in the community as well as impact the local economy.
“We kindly request all bikers participating in the Bikers Carnival Calabar to ensure they are properly kitted with helmets and safety gear. Your safety is our priority, and we want everyone to have a fantastic time while staying safe on the roads. Let’s ride responsibly and enjoy the carnival together as no biker’s gang will be allowed into the route without being fully kitted,” he said.
On the essence of the parade, one of the bikers said: “This carnival is an opportunity for us to meet each other. We travel to other states for meets like this. We were in Gombe State in northern Nigeria, we also had a meet on October First in Abuja and this has been our southern Nigeria meet. We do not want it to change or die.”
Another rider maintained that “we have a good formation this year,” adding, “Most of us love to ride as a hobby. Most of us are tourists, we travel to other states and neighbouring countries on our motorcycles and vice versa. In fact there is no month we do not receive riders from other countries in Calabar. However, we are safety conscious.”
Executive Secretary, Calabar Festival Commission, Austin Cobham, said, “This year’s Bikers’ Carnival is just a pleasure ride with safety in focus. We have all the barricades in place and have announced that the people, spectators and funseekers should also avoid the tracks.”
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