'Kanyeyachukwu's tough ride from Enugu to Lagos'
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, would remain a special day for Kanyeyachukwu Okeke-Tagbo. It was a special moment and a record-breaking feat. At the age of 16, Kanyeyachukwu, an autistic child,
- By Paul Gabriel
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, would remain a special day for Kanyeyachukwu Okeke-Tagbo. It was a special moment and a record-breaking feat. At the age of 16, Kanyeyachukwu, an autistic child, completed his cross-country ride from Enugu to Lagos. And here's what is very thrilling: he didn't do it for fun or for money; he did it to raise awareness for autistic children.
Greatly enough this isn't his first time. He recently entered the Guinness World Records. At the age of 15, he broke the record for the largest painting on canvas, measuring over 12,000 square meters. The artwork, titled “Impossibility is a Myth,” was unveiled on World Autism Awareness Day in April 2025 in Abuja—a feat very significant for a young child.
He didn't stop there. He went further to do the impossible, being the youngest autistic teenager to do a cross-country cycling from Enugu to Lagos.
On Wednesday, he was welcomed warmly by Lagosians as he arrived in Lagos, in completion of his race, before he met with Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday at the Governor House.
Tagbo Okeke, the father of the record breaker, spoke with Paul Gabriel on the ride.
The ride was directed at autism, are you trying to create awareness or challenge a notion?
We are trying to create awareness for autism, and what we did was from Enugu, we stopped at Awka, we passed through seven states and in those states, we made stops in all of them.
Why we did that was for community engagement. We engaged with the community, went to schools, spoke with teachers and students, and used that opportunity to talk about autism. Not only that, we also talked about special needs and how people can help children who have disabilities.
We also spoke to parents, especially those who are not able to fight the stigma of having a child with a disability. We were trying to make sure they can come out and deal with that stigma.
We also had doctors who gave free evaluation and diagnosis for children with learning disabilities, speech delays, and developmental challenges.
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So I can say we are doing both; creating awareness and challenging the stigma.
Were there any support for your campaign and challenges you faced during the ride?
Well, we had professional cyclists, and they were making sure we were keeping up the pace. We also had officials from the Cyclist Federation of Nigeria, making sure rules and regulations were followed on the road.
We had Road Safety who followed us from Enugu down to Lagos, and they made sure traffic was clear and that we had a smooth ride all the way.
The only issues we had were tyre punctures once in a while, and bicycle malfunctions that made us stop and fix it. We also had rain issues. Whenever we noticed rain was coming, we had to slow down. There were also some bad roads, maybe around Ore, so we had to take it very slowly.
People would have seen your campaign and might feel encouraged. Do you have any message, especially for those with disabilities?
First of all, there is a need for more awareness. There is a need to fight ignorance. Autism is not a problem, ignorance is. People need to understand
