Streets of Lagos
Untitled Film Properties Pty Ltd

 

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The country I’m from,

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there is no room or space for

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self discovery.

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Everyone is on the move and everyone is

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struggling to survive.

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Trying to find a way to express yourself

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in all this chaos

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is really hard.

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But that burning hunger

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to achieve your aims and your dreams

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is what keeps everyone going.

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Without that you can't survive.

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Rollerblading in Lagos is

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completely absurd to a lot of people.

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They feel you can't get anything off it.

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They think it's just for kids.

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But rollerblading gives you this sense of freedom

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sense of the true form of sincerity.

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Every form that you try to understand

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you picture it in your mind before you do it.

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Bringing it to realisation, man,

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that's the most beautiful thing ever.

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I think it's such a blessing that we have this community.

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Our culture is so embracive and it's so pure

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that you can go anywhere in the world

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and know one rollerblader

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and that could change everything.

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But what motivated me to come out here

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really was just the passion, the dedication.

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It was so impactful I could feel it from

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my house in California.

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But to do something like what Daniel's doing out here

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is very special and unique.

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You have to be mentally, physically, spiritually strong

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to survive here in Lagos.

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You can't just be going and waxing some ledge

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or grinding some rail or spot

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because it can come with a price

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really.

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And that could be, not just money,

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but that could be your life.

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It's not a game out here.

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You just have to be tough man.

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If you're not, the city's gonna swallow you, bro.

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It's really hard for you to skate in this city.

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But irrespective, we still do it.

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Why? Because we love it.

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We don't let it limit us, we let it shape us

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to become the bladers that we are.

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You make do with what you have,

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that's how you survive here.

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I mean everything that stays in this city

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is something that has been built upon

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blood, sweat and tears.

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They key drive to this whole mission

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is to set up a legacy that's never going to end.

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Dan: "Like pump with it?"

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Brian: "You pump it, yeah."

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"So, because if you jump off of it"

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"It'll make you come away from it"

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I just wanted to do what I could

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to be a part of that and

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to be able to support and help

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in any form or shape

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that was an ultimate goal.

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The way I started this business

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I got a good contact from Rollerblade.

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I sent them an email and they replied to me.

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But by that time they were like, "Oh Nigeria?"

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I told them that I am different,

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I want to do business with you, I'm different.

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They said let's give you a try out.

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What motivates you to stay doing this?

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Well, I love this with passion.

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I see skating in the future for young people.

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I have to do my best for them,

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encouraging them, telling them this is skating,

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skate for life, you understand?

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You skate, you get life.

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That's the mentality where we need to be at.

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You gotta think about the big picture.

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This is something that's just the

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literally the beginning of what's to come.

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Seeing the youth out here,

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they don't even realise how amazing they are already,

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without even knowing the history behind it.

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And here they are

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360ing over rails and sticks

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and jumping over tyres and doing all these things

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that they are creating themselves without even realising

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there's a whole culture standing right there behind them

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ready to support them.

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Having people like Brian Freeman come out to Nigeria

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has not just given people hope.

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It has given them that drive, that motivation.

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And to tell us that it's not impossible for us to

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come together as a community.

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When we leave I want you guys to still keep this going, ok?

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Don't just stop being passionate about what you guys are doing.

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Because this is a family - look around, look around,

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look at everybodty around you.

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We got one thing in common, everything on our feet right now,

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this is really, really important.

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So I want you to keep that love going,

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let's get it forever, for real, aight?

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For me, living in Lagos is a flickering TV.

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It's not stable, it's not clear

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But when rollerblading came into my life

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it shaped me, and gave me an opportunity

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I would never have gotten

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if I had listened to someone else, if not myself.

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So the most important thing is for you to listen to yourself.

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Sit down and look deep into your heart

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and ask yourself what do you really want to do?

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And chase that with all the burning passion you have in you.