One of the funniest motorcycle-related stories so far this year comes from Nigeria.
The fact it should come from a country that in the age of the internet is perhaps better
known for scam emails makes it even more enjoyable in my book.

Following the introduction of a new helmet law forcing all motorbike drivers and motorbike passengers to wear helmets, at the beginning of the year, bikers in the country have invented their own “helmets” by wearing dried pumpkin shells, paint pots or pieces of rubber tyre tied to their heads with string! In addition construction workers have set up a lucrative trade renting out their safety helmets for around 500 naira (2.42 pounds) a day.

These makeshift substitutes for the real thing are mainly being adopted by taxi drivers as they
say that passengers tend to steal the real thing.

Motorcycle taxis, called “achaba” in the north of the country and “okada” in the south, are a cheap way for Nigerians to get around congested and chaotic city streets.

However, the authorities are not seeing the funny side and are prosecuting motorcyclists and impounding motorcycles as a result.

“We are impounding their bikes and want to take them to court so they can explain why they think wearing a calabash is good enough for their safety,” said Federal Road Safety Commission commander Yusuf Garba. Fifty motorbikes had been seized so far in Kano city alone, he added.

There is of course a serious side to this story. The government says that around 4000 riders
die in Nigeria every year and 20,000 are injured and therefore the new law is trying to reduce these casualties