My first visit to Amsterdam Central Station in 1995 was overshadowed with the number of bicycles that I saw; different shapes, sizes and colours. I must be very honest because I never thought of seeing bicycles in that numbers and I also remembered working at a meat factory in the late 90’s where the Director of the Company was coming to work daily riding on his bicycle.

I know a couple of high profile Dutch politicians and highly placed corporate personnel’s arriving The Hague for work with their bicycles and some even travel by trains with collapsible bicycles. My curiosity took me to a bicycle shop for more inquiries and I discovered that the bicycle business is a multi million euro biz that also revolves around the economy of the nation. It is no surprise when I saw bicycles with a price tag of more than 3,000 euro which is even more expensive than some cars!

A friend even told me that the reason for the “figure 8” shapes of most Dutch ladies comes from riding bicycles. The men are very fit and reputed to be the tallest men breed in the world also thanks to frequent riding of bicycles. As a form of exercise, it helps to burn off your unwanted calories and keep you in shape with maximum stamina.

Contrary to the celebrated status of bicycle in The Netherlands, in my country Nigeria bicycles are exclusively the privilege of the very poor living in the rural areas. In the rural areas, bicycles are the means of transportation to farms. I never used bicycle in Nigeria but at least I could ride from my training as a kid.

I felt the urge to own a bicycle since it became inevitable. I bought a second hand bicycle as a means of exercise to keep fit at least since adding more height was already out of the question. I could remember a day I was riding back from the supermarket, my cousin called me from Nigeria and I managed to squeeze out my mobile phone while still riding to answer the call.

I asked him to call me back that I was riding my bicycle and couldn’t talk with him on the phone. He erupted into a big laughter and said “ah uncle, you mean you are riding bicycle in Europe?” To him it was a surprise because in Nigeria only the less privilege rides a bicycle so his imagination could be summed up that I could be in the less privilege category in The Netherlands if I am riding a bicycle here.

I am now an advocate of operation-own-your-own-bicycle in Nigeria. We must gallop out of the odd thinking that bicycle reduces your social status but must see it as a means of keeping fit to last longer on earth! I applaud the Dutch Society for this culture.