By Nneka Chile
LAGOS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - In a driveway of a suburban Lagos
house, 14-year-old Kehinde Oguntokun juggles colourful circus
clubs as he swings around on a unicycle.
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 channelling their energy towards productive
thing instead of doing funny things."
($1 = 306.4000 naira)