This is for all young persons aspiring to a professional sports career, examined through my own story. Enjoy it.
Two weeks ago, I received the good news that the Federal University Oye Ekiti, FUOYE, would be conferring on me an Honourary Doctorate degree in Human Kinetics during the institution’s 7th Convocation ceremony on February 11, 2023.
When I left Jos, a fledgling 17-year old boy, freshly minted at St. Murumba College, and landed in Ibadan to venture into the world of academics, it was with a start that was totally unrelated to any of the things that eventually became my life and story. Soon NTC FC started to win a few matches and some honours. With every success I started to get a little bit more money. I soon started to feature in newspaper reports. I was described as that ‘slow unknown striker’. After 2 years I had been thrown into the whirlpool of popularity around Ibadan and on the campus of the Polytechnic. I even won ‘Best Player of the Ibadan League award’.
Until last week, and for the past half a Century, I have not been certain if that decision was right or wrong. I was very afraid for my future. The lives of former renowned footballers were not pin-ups, and were a poor advertisement for a secure life beyond football. In my mind were too many uncertainties, but I took my decision.
My choice to remain in Nigerian football was a gamble, but was reinforced by the picture painted by the first Rector of the Polytechnic, Professor Victor Olunloyo, former Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Ibadan, when he spoke to us as pioneer students of the Higher Diploma program at the Polytechnic.
Almost 40 years since I hung my football boots, I have not looked back. I have traversed the world of sports, seeking every exploitable opportunity in what was an untapped but lucrative industry.
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