Bigmanity Networks in the Rider Industry: Key Players and Nodes

Through the motorbike industry, many former child soldiers have discovered a viable means of making a living while contributing to postwar urban reconstruction. By providing a vital service, which the social and economic livelihoods of many other Sierra Leoneans depend on, former child soldiers have played an integral role in post-conflict society (Voldby 2011).

Urban motorbike Bigmanity in Sierra Leone can be best understood as a confluence of networks and nodes that shape the industry and influence how riders both gain and lose from their involvement in it. These networks are expansive and encompass not only riders and the Big Men who control the disbursement of resources in the industry but also bike owners or “masters” as well as police and traffic wardens who equally benefit from their ability to gain power and resources from “clients.”

5.1 The Bike Riders Associations (BRAs)

Riders, or Okada men, are normally affiliated with an organizational network of the Bike Riders Associations (BRAs) (BBC News 2003). Each town typically has their own BRA, which serves various functions. From investigating and mediat­ing disputes between riders, clients, and police, to assisting riders should they have an accident, to aiding in life events such as weddings, naming ceremonies, and funerals, to enforcing rules concerning safe and appropriate riding etiquette, the BRAs play a central role in overseeing and managing the industry and its members (Baker 2006; Peters 2007; Voldby 2011).

5.2 Bike Owners

Bike owners, “masters” or “bosses,” represent another form of Big Men who occupy powerful positions as “nodes” within the motorbike industry network. While some riders have accumulated enough wealth to purchase their own bikes, the majority of urban riders must enter into patrimonial relationships with these masters in order to access a bike. In exchange for using their bikes, riders must hand over a portion of their daily earnings to bike owners. In many cases, riders must ensure they accumulate enough earnings during the day to pay masters anywhere from Le 25,000 to Le 30,000 (approximately USD 5.80 to USD 7). This arrangement makes it very difficult for riders to accumulate any personal savings.

5.3 PoliceandTrafficWardens

Riders must also contend with fines administered by urban police forces and local traffic wardens. Reports suggest that police are using the failure to wear helmets as a way to extort money from both riders and passengers (Massaquoi 2008). Officers allegedly request bribes of 30,000 leones (approximately USD 10) or risk being taken to the police station and subsequently charged in court. If convicted, many are forced to pay fines of up to 150,000 leones (approximately USD 50). Alongside altercations with police, traffic wardens accuse riders of violating traffic rules and driving dangerously. In turn, riders report that traffic wardens favor well-connected riders in the community and are unnecessarily rough during arrests.

Riders find themselves negotiating a dynamic urban network characterized by hierarchical and horizontal power relations. In its vertical organization, Big Men exercise their privileged status to extract resources from less powerful network members (i.e., riders) in exchange for protection, support, and access to goods and opportunities. In its horizontal organization, Big Men nodes (i.e., BRA executive members, bike owners, and police forces) function simultaneously to maintain a large socioeconomic network from which to amass wealth and political power. However, it is equally important to acknowledge the reality of horizontal organization and possibilities for political mobilization among the riders themselves. While it may appear that riders passively accept the unjust social position they inhabit, riders, as will be demonstrated later on, are in many ways critically conscious of the abusive system they navigate. This awareness can potentially serve as a base from which to counter the oppressive forces that aim to marginalize them.

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