General Yakubu Gowon was 49 when the Green Eagles won their very first continental medal, the Second All Africa Games gold in 1973. The victors were invited to Dodan Barracks where the Head-of-State welcomed them wearing their traditional Green top on a white short. He also tired a white kerchief round his neck.
The Eagles were led to Obalende by Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Brigadier Henry Adefope. All the players wore green tracksuits. As Peter Obe got set to take their group photograph, Gowon stood at the centre of the middle row, flanked by Victor Oduah and Haruna Ilerika. Godwin Achebe took the extreme right position.
It was funny and remarkable. Achebe who was captain of the team but gave way to Oduah in most of the matches was in the trenches three years earlier fighting for Biafra and also training soldiers at the School of Infantry. Dominic Nwobodo was a Biafran commando and lost his elder brother, Chris, during the battle of Owerri. Kenneth Olayombo was in the Nigeria Army while Sunny Oyarekhua belonged to the police.
Subsequent leaders did not follow the Gowon example. When the Eagles won the Africa Nations Cup in 1980, President Shehu Shagari received them wearing babanriga. When they won again at Tunisia’94, General Sani Abacha was in military regalia. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan put on his traditional Resource Control hat when he welcomed them back from South Africa 2013 following a third AFCON triumph.
The 1973 team was a collection of local stars from different backgrounds. There was Tony Igwe whose nickname was ‘World Two’. Morton Owolo, George Egborge, Sunday Izevbigie, Jossy Dombraye,, Mathias Obianika were there. Ismaila Mabo sounded like Yakubu Mambo, both of them muslims, like Haruna Ilerika. Sorry, there was the Ghanaian, Sanni Mohammed.
Mambo was a man of History. He scored the first goal when the National Stadium, Surulere was opened by Gowon on December 4, 1972. Gideon Njoku would later become the first to score a hat-trick there. Dominic Ezeani, the left-back, was the youngest member of the team. Less than 24 months earlier, he had won the Adebajo/Manuwa Cup with the East Central State Academicals.
Goalkeeper Emmanuel Okala was largely unknown. Eyo Essien was more popular having lifted the Challenge Cup in 1972 with Vipers of Benin. Okala changed the pecking order and was number one until the Africa Nations Cup in 1980. The good thing was that Essien was equally good and came in twice and even saved a penalty in the grand finale against Guinea.
Head of the coaching crew , Jorge Augusto Magal Laos Pena, the Brazilian, was around for the second time after leaving in 1963. Dan Amobi Amadi Anyiam had been coach of the national team twice too dating back to 1954. Godwin Etemike and Jide Johnson completed the coaching staff.
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Gowon just laughed as he chatted with the players. The best he offered was a golden handshake. When Shagari hosted the Eagles in 1980, Okala was the only ‘surviving’ member of the 1973 squad. He got a car, a house and national award.
The Green Eagles were super in 1973. They were in group A alongside Ghana , Algeria and Tanzania. Oyarekhua hit five goals to lead the scorers chart. The Black Stars were battered 4-2, thanks to Oyarekhua’s brace and one each from Mambo and Igwe. It ended 2-2 with Algeria, Tanzania fell 2-1 courtesy of Mabo and Igwe again and Egypt got a 4-2 drubbing in the semis. Oyarekhua struck again in the final which Guinea lost 2-0.
Okala was injured in the 75th minute in the first game, against Ghana. It was the same story in the final when he collided with a Guinean defender so early in the match, 12th minute. On both occasions, Essien did well as a substitute.
Ezeani was a revelation but did not last. The defender pursued education in the United States as from 1975. He began at St. Antony’s School Ubulu Uku but ended up at Christ the King College Onitsha. The East Central State Academicals that won the Adebajo/Manuwa Cup in 1971 paraded two players who would play for the Eagles much longer than Ezeani.
Christian Chukwu and Patrick Ekeji were in the senior national team from 1974 to 1980. They had a more successful career than fellow Academicals like Godwin Ogbueze, Obed Ariri, Damian Odo and Kenneth Ilodigwe. Anyiam was coach of the Academicals as well as Enugu Rangers.. Ezeani was joined in the US by Ariri, Ogbueze, Odo and Ilodigwe.
The same Gowon who hosted the Eagles also disbanded the team later in 1973 after they lost 5-1 to Zambia and failed to qualify for the Egypt ’74 Nations Cup. Joe Erico was in goal. At that time, the Eagles did not have a military camp commandant. Perhaps he would have been ordered to deal with the players. In 1973, Lt. col John Atom Kpera was Team Nigeria’s Camp Commandant.
Gowon was a keen sports man and played football as a Cadet at Sandhurst. Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Abdusalam Abubakar also played good soccer. IBB, a defender and Head Boy at Provincial Secondary School, Bida was known as ‘Block buster’. Abdusalami was goalkeeper of the school team. Elsewhere, Abacha was called Pele.
The greatest of them all was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who played for Lagos Diamond in 1923. Zik established three football clubs in Lagos under the Zik Athletic Club [ZAC]. He also built the Yaba Stadium. The Owelle was a sportswriter and in 1945 was one of the officials that handled the 1945 Challenge Cup final in Lagos.
