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The Nigeria
Academicals Cup, second only to the National Challenge Cup (now
Federation Cup) for popularity and all other ingredients of big time
football, was the wellspring of Nigeria’s best talent between 1965 and
1975 until the National Sports Festival football event and age-limited
competitions snuffed life out of it.

It brimmed with
talent, real talent who in a year or two after being part of a state or
the national academicals graduated to big time football at football
club level and the Green Eagles as the Super Eagles was then called.

In 1965 Sam Garba
Okoye led his Jos teammates to the national team to take on Ghana
Academicals. From St. Theresa’s Jos, came Peter Anieke, a 6ft plus
lethal striker with Tony Igwe, a quality right back later to be
nicknamed “World 2”. Segun Odegbami, later know as “Mathematical” was
also to come out of St. Theresa’s later.

At the National
team, Muyiwa Oshode, Sham-shudeen Olowoshode and Tunde Disu came from
Ahmadiyya Secondary School in Lagos. The incredible goalkeeper Inua
Rigogo came from a secondary school in Kano. I am not too sure what
school Segun Olumodeji, the rock of Gibraltar at the heart of the
defence came from, but I know he hailed from today’s Kogi State.

In my hurry to dish
out this stuff to titillate football fans, I also could not wait to
find out what school left-back Austin “Mazeli” Ofuokwu came from. What,
however, is the critical point being made is that a bunch of school
boys that beat their Ghanaian counterpart home and away in 1965 had two
years later in 1967 had become the nucleus of Nigeria’s national team
and actually played in the 1968 Olympic football event, holding mighty
Brazil to a 3-3 draw in Mexico.

Complete with older
and experienced internationals, Sam Opone, Sebastine Broadericks, Paul
“Wonderboy” Hamilton, Mohammed Lawal, Peter Fregene, Duro Adigun etc,
the Eagles stopped Ghana especially from humiliating us 6-0, 5-1 as
their predecessors in the time of Fabian Duru used to suffer!

The 1965
Academicals team served the Green Eagles till 1972 when new blood, new
talent pushed into the team but Tony Igwe and Austin Ofuokwu remained a
while in the team. Peter Fregene and Peter Anieke were still good
enough, but their somewhat rebellious nature made them unpopular with
officials and selectors otherwise they could have made the All African
Games football gold winning team in 1973.

A glut of talent

They gave way to less colourful but effective successors in Emmanuel Okala and Eyo Essien for Peter Fregene and

Sunny Oyarekhua, and Kenneth Olayombo for Peter Anieke.

Interestingly, a
new set of academicals players had emerged again. Josiah Dombraye and
Sunday Izevbigie from the Midwest (Bendel) Academicals of 1970 and 1971
respectively had moved up to the Green Eagles by 1972. Joining them
from the East Central State Academicals of 1971 was Dominic Ezeani who
walked straight into the central defence, displacing skipper Godwin
Achebe and then pairing Victor Oduah as new skipper.

Haruna Ilerika the
dribbling wizard of Zumraltu Ahmadiyya Secondary School had all the way
created waves with his team-mate Tajudeen Ajagun. Had Ajagun gone to
play for Stationery Stores FC like his more illustrious team-mate,
Ilerika, he too would probably have stepped up to the Eagles.

At ECN, later NEPA
Lagos, the politics of the game put him down the perking order for the
striking roles which had Sunday Oyarekhua (Police Machine Team) Kenneth
Olayombo (Lagos Garrison Organisation) Sunday Izevbigie and Sam Ikedi
(Bendel Insurance).

Morton Owolo, a
left back from Hussey College Warri claimed left back position in some
matches too. Waiting in the wings to claim shirts were Academicals from
the East-Central state after Dominic Ezeani broke into the Eagles, his
team-mates, Patrick Ekeji, now Director-General National Sports
Commission, Christian Chukwu, later Captain of the Green Eagles that
won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 1980, Kenneth
Ilodigwe (alias Kendo), Obed Ariri (later Captain of Vasco Da Gama FC,
Enugu, and Godwin Ogbueze arguably one of the most gifted
centre-forwards Nigeria’s football has ever seen. There were other
great talent in the East Central State team like Tony Uzoka, a left
winger, Keeper Ahamefuna Umelo, Chukwuma Nwankwo and John Azinge.

And with other
states throwing up quality talent like Clement Okwufuleze, Patrick De
Adinkwe, Raphael Uwechie (a great keeper now a pilot), Patrick Ezeocha,
all from the Midwest (Bendel), Salihu Tijani a terrific striker came
from the North shooting with both feet and scoring spectacular goals.

From the West,
goalkeeper Zion Ogunfemi had his hands full because Emmanuel Okala and
Eyo Essien were not just going to quit. But Tunde Balogun, son of
Teslim Balogun, the football legend, a great mid-fielder and wing
player emerged too from the Western State Academicals team. Had he
stayed a little longer he would have displaced Yakubu Mambo and Gideon
Njoku from the right wing position in the Green Eagles.

That did not happen
because Tunde Balogun joined another striker from the West- Yomi Bamiro
(Shooting Stars), Sunday Izevbigie and Muyiwa Sanya (Bendel Insurance),
Kenneth Ilodigwe and Dominic Ezeani (Enugu Rangers) and Ghana’s Sam Ayi
Akwa (a left back) to proceed to Howard University on Scholarship.

One season later,
Ben Popoola, Segun Adewale, Olumeko (a Keeper), Damian Ogunsuyi and
Emmanuel Egede (alias Tailor) all from Bendel Insurance, Godwin Ogbueze
and Damian Odoh (Enugu Rangers), Obed Ariri (Vasco Da Gama Enugu) all
went to Clemson University in the United States on Scholarship.

From the Lagos axis
we had Emilo John and Keeper Manuwa who had followed Ilerika to knock
on the doors of the Green Eagles. So also did Keeper Marcelus Obinatu,
Tunde Martins, Kwame Senaya, Tony Eyo, Tex Egbedi (now a top class
Fashion and Trend Consultant/designer),

Isaac Annan, Fred
Obadiaru, Bernard Mensah, Kehinde Oworu and Maxwell Yebrufra whose
winning goal in a Lagos State Principal Cup match made front page
headline in Nigeria’s leading daily newspaper at the time, Daily Times.

Adokiye Amiesimaka,
fondly called Chief Justice and a former Attorney-General in Rivers
State is a product of Academicals football and so was Thompson Usiyen,
Nigeria’s best striker in my opinion. Such was the strength intensity,
excitement, talent flow and attention-capture capacity of academicals
football those days. It provided empowerment through well-paying jobs
and scholarship to American Universities.

Academicals football, nay schools sports is it and there is the
strong need to revive it because apart from being a veritable well-pool
of talent for the Eagles, it reduces if not banishes entirely
age-cheating while opening avenues for further education and
scholarship schemes locally, as well as in America and Canada.