Who Was The Nigerian Man Who Travelled To 87 Countries Using Just His Bike But Died Poor?
Only a few people know that a Nigerian man visited at least 87 countries of the world riding on his scooter Vespa motorcycle. Though history never forgets, many young people of today may not know there was a flamboyant man of Nigerian descent who could be called a globetrotter because of his travelling exploits. Though he was very well known in his time, his fame and exploits seem to have fizzled out with his death.
Source: UGC
Moshood Adisa Olabisi Ajala, aka Ọlábísí Àjàlá, was a famous celebrity who was very popular in the 1950s. He was so popular that the legendary Juju musician Ebenezer Obey mentioned his name in his 1972 hit album, “Board Members."
Olabisi Ajala's birth and education
The famous Nigerian globetrotter Olabisi Ajala was born to Nigerian parents in Ghana in 1934. Ajala was the twenty-fifth of his father’s 30 children from four wives, according to Business Day.
He would later return to Nigeria to attend school at the Baptist Academy in Lagos and Ibadan Boys’ High School.
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If Olabisi Ajala had followed his first career choice, no one may have heard about him, or his name may not have been in the history books. Initially, he wanted to be a medical doctor, Premium Times reported.
His dream of practising medicine led him to the United States, where he studied pre-medicine at the University of Chicago.
He famously said that his dream was to study medicine to “wage war on voodoo and other superstitions” when he returned to Nigeria.
He wrote in his travelogue:
“The world should send doctors to Africa, and missionaries to Chicago. The gangsters here need to convert much more than we do."
The dream never materialised as he dumped the stethoscope and enrolled at Roosevelt University to study psychology.
What made Olabisi Ajala popular
On June 12, 1952, Olabisi Ajala decided to embark on a famous journey from Chicago to Los Angeles, a distance of about 2,280 miles, all on a bicycle.
Upon his arrival, he was received by Los Angeles city mayor Fletcher Bowron. During the tour, the globetrotter stopped in 11 cities, delivered lectures, and taught people about Africa and Nigeria.
Having abandoned his schoolwork and because of his constant shave with the American authorities over immigration and other petty offences, he was sentenced to a one-year suspended jail term.
He was later ordered to be deported to Nigeria, but he protested the deportation order by climbing a high radio tower and threatening to jump from there.
Ajala later jumped and injured his back, but this did not stop his deportation from the US. The difference was that he was deported to London, UK.
Ajala the globethroter
On April 27, 1957, Olabisi Ajala began his six-year globetrotting career. It is believed he visited 87 countries riding his Scooter Vespa motorcycle.
He later wrote a book titled "An African Abroad", detailing his experiences in a 255-page travelogue, which was published by London-based Jarrolds in 1963.
In the book, Ajala wrote about his sojourn in India, his visits to the Soviet Union and the Afro-Asian students (he met) in Russia.
Parts of the book also discussed the Shah of Iran, his experiences in the Arab world, and his entry into Israel's Jerusalem.
Ajala had also travelled to Lebanon, Egypt, Russia, and Australia.
Olabisi Ajala starred in movies
Olabisi Ajala also had other talents, such as acting. He starred in movies made by 20th Century Fox.
He was a character in the White Witch Doctor, a film made by the 20th Century Fox movie studio, and he was paid $300 per week for the job.
He signed a movie contract with the Eagle Lion’s studio in Hollywood in 1955.
Olabisi Ajala's family life
Ajala was said to have a strong liking for women, making him the father of many children and husband to wives from different countries.
For instance, he married Myrtle Bassett and had his first son, Oladipupo. He was also married to an American model, Hermine Aileen, but they would later be divorced.
He married 19-year-old radio-TV actress Joan Simmons. He also had an Australian wife named Wajuan, who gave him Femi, Dante, Lisa, and Sydney.
Olabisi Ajala returns to Nigeria and dies poor
Despite his fame and the fact that he travelled the world and made some money, Olabisi Ajala would later die a poor man in Nigeria.
When he returned to Nigeria, he became a socialite and hung out with celebrities like Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, but later fell out with him.
He had no savings for the rainy day, and he was said to have lived in a dingy rented apartment in a two-storey building on Adeniran Street, Bariga, Lagos. He died in 1999 from a stroke.
An observer said of him, as quoted in a 2018 article by Femi Kehinde:
“Ajala’s sitting room was devoid of carpet, had a table of about five locally made iron chairs in a corner which also served as a dining table, an old black and white television set, seats uncomfortably in an ill-constructed shelf, the cushion on the sofa hurts the butto.cks as it has become flat, the curtains on the window of the two bedroom flat, showed sign of old age, it is indeed a story of penury."
The story of Mama Janet Ekundayo
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also told the story of Mama Janet Ekundayo, a Nigerian caregiver.
During her lifetime, Mama Ekundayo cared for children at her orphanage.
The orphanage, located in Kogi state became a symbol of survival for many children who would have been left to suffer in the streets.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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