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The teenager has been cycling on the
one-wheeled vehicle for four years, learning the skill at a
dedicated school, the Gkb - or "God knows best" - Unicycle
Academy, in Nigeria's commercial capital.
"People don't actually do it very much so it looks new to people
when they see it with us," Oguntokun said at an after-school
practice session, where pupils learned how to ride in unison,
holding hands and twirling around each other.
A performance skill rarely seen on the streets of the west
African country, Olalekan Kuyoro founded the academy in 2014 and
has trained more than 40 children since.
After failing to get into university, Kuyoro learned to unicycle
in 2012, soon deciding to teach children full-time rather than
adults, saying they picked it up faster.
"I started with ... a seven-year-old boy and I was amazed that
(it) took me a month to ride and a seven-year-old boy could just
do it easily," the 29-year-old said.
The self-funded school, which holds classes in Kuyoro's
driveway, trains children aged seven to 15, teaching them
juggling, skipping and other tricks on unicycles. It has 18
unicycles, each costing 7,000 naira ($23)and requiring regular
maintenance.
Pupils put on paid performances at events and carnivals and also
impromptu shows at market venues when in need of urgent funds
for costumes, unicycles and, sometimes, food.
They take home money from their performances, Kuyoro said, and
also show off their skills in Instagram posts, where the
school's account has more than 16,000 followers.
"People really don't know what it is, like a broken bike. They
are like 'What is the future for this thing? I'd rather put my
child in football academy.' So I have to talk to them," he said,
adding the daily rehearsals kept pupils from hanging out on the
streets.
"We take a lot of kids out of the street ... so what they are
doing now is channeling their energy toward productive thing
instead of doing funny things."
(Reporting by Nneka Chile; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and
Timothy Heritage)
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