Documented in 1968 by the Daily Times as the first Nigerian lady to ride a two-wheel machine, Princess Elder Aderonke Adedamola Ayeni JP relives the feeling early July 1968, when her photos flooded the old Daily Times and its sister publication, Alaroye. She also speaks on her forthcoming 80th birthday, being the first lady co-operative inspector in Nigeria and more.
“The next thing, I saw it in the papers. It was in the Daily Times centre pages; and later in their Yoruba version. Until then, a lady riding a two-wheel vehicle was untold and unheard of,” she said. Asked what kind of lady she was in her younger days to have dared to do the ‘unthinkable’ at the time, she said, “It was God. I grew up with my brothers. I had one brother in front and another following me; so I grew up with them and we interacted like there was no difference in our sexes. I was such that if they climbed trees, I climbed with them; if they rode a bicycle, I rode with them; wherever they went, I went. We did practically everything together and I wasn’t aware of any differences.
Recalling people’s reaction as she rode through the town into her neighbourhood, Ayeni burst into a hearty laughter and said almost in ecstasy: “Oh, it was fantastic. The whole community was stunned, literally. I became like a goldfish that had no hiding place. Ask anybody about the lady that rides a scooter and they’d just point out my house. I became popular beyond my imagination. It was so sensational.
She however said she experienced the now legendary ‘altercation’ with the notorious old Lagos ‘Molue’ buses.
Ifb