Courage Adams is a Spanish BMX pro with roots in Nigeria. He regularly visits the country from which he emigrated with his family at the age of five. Legend has it that he sold his computer games at the age of 12 so that he could buy a second-hand BMX.

His talent caught the eye of Viki Gomez, a Spanish flatland star who is known to regular visitors to Cycle Week. Gomez encouraged the boy with the adventurous name and he rewarded him with victories in street and park contests. Adams becomes a professional and leads a life that is not only far removed from that of his relatives in Africa, but beyond their imagination.

A skate park for the future

In 2018, he rides to Lagos for the first time accompanied by a camera team and discovers that there is also a BMX scene there. Two years later, he visits relatives and shows them what he does for a living. This second trip to his roots is immortalized in the film Encouraged.

In 2020, he is said to have promised to build a skate park. His sponsor Red Bull recognized the potential of the story and made the construction possible. In 2022, several other BMX and park building greats finally built the park together with the locals. "I started from scratch. Having a skate park nearby gave me everything," explains Adams at the beginning of the film, "It was the best thing that happened to me in my whole life."

Even if at first glance the lack of skate parks is not Nigeria's biggest problem, such facilities can still inspire local communities, stimulate initiative and allow young people to experience that they can achieve something in their place of residence through their own efforts. This is also demonstrated by the Pump for Peace pump tracks. And we in the rich north also know how good it is to roll on pedal-powered bikes.