Nigeria forgetting Okwaraji, ex-internationals say

Sam Okwaraji

Besides being a skilful and dedicated footballer, one other thing that stood Samuel Okwaraji out of the lot in the Green Eagles of 1989 was his leadership quality. A quality that reflected in his willingness to sacrifice whatever he had to the glory of Nigeria. Unfortunately, however, only a few remember him for what he truly represented in Nigerian football.

Every year, since his untimely death during the World Cup qualifier between Nigeria and Angola at the National Stadium in Lagos on August 12, 1989, Nigerians remember him as an iconic figure that could have inspired the Green Eagles to achieve greater things.

He was the only player the Nigeria Football Association ever agreed to pay his club, SSV-ULM 1848, $15,000 just to have him play for his country.

The club had asked the NFA to pay about $45, 000 for Okwaraji’s match bonus and an expected loss in the club’s gate taking for the period in which Okwaraji would be on national duty, and former NFA chairman, Group Captain John Obakpolor, had agreed to pay a third of the amount after negotiation.

But Okwaraji, who studied Law at the University of Rome and a symbol of honesty, dedication and accountability, stood up to the club manager who demanded money and insisted he would not be resold to Nigeria. He assured Obakpolor he would come for the match in 1988; it was his first appearance for the national team.

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The midfielder reportedly paid his ways to play for the Green Eagles on numerous occasions without asking for refund.

He went on to play eight games for Nigeria, scoring one goal, the fastest goal in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, 89 seconds into the game against Cameroon in the group stage.

Despite his achievement and commitment to the nation, Okwaraji is only immortalised with the burst erected at the National Stadium in Lagos, and the last time a memorial game was played in his name was in 2009 when former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, celebrated him with former internationals at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

His former teammates, Etim Esin and Friday Ekpo, are bitter that the former midfielder has been forgotten by the football authorities and the Federal Government.

“Okwaraji and I had the dream of playing in the 1990 World Cup; the dream died the day he died. We were close friends, so his death had great effect on me. I miss him a lot. He was supposed to be the African version of Ruud Gulit while I was called the African Maradona by the late commentator Ernest Okonkwo,” Esin said on Tuesday.

“There should be an annual football competition organised in his memory. This was a player who died while serving Nigeria in the national colours.

“I was in the midfield with him during the Angola game at the National Stadium; we were together in the dressing room before we matched out for the game, but there was no sign to show what he was going through. I’m not a doctor, so there was no way I could know even though I was with him.

“Such thing had never happened in Nigerian football so nobody had any idea what was wrong until it was too late. Medically, Nigeria was ill-prepared to manage the situation when it occurred; we had a poor medical system. If our medical team had been alert, Okwaraji would have survived the heart attack.”

Ekpo believes Okwaraji should be remembered in a similar way fallen soldiers are remembered in Nigeria.

“A player, who died while wearing the national jersey on a national assignment, and a soldier, who died while defending the integrity of the nation, should be honoured in the same way,” Ekpo said.

“Many of our colleagues, who were in the position to organise events in Okwaraji’s remembrance failed to do so. It is like betraying his memory and deliberately forgetting his contribution to our football.

“The manner in which Nigeria forgot Okwaraji made players in latter generation to demand for money before they play for the country. It should not be done this way. The moment players lose commitment, the team will begin to decline.”