Precisely
24 years ago, late Samuel Okwaraji slumped and died while playing for his
father’s land. Despite all his sacrifice, he was forgotten and abandoned by
past governments. Can Dr. Goodluck Jonathan make history by rewarding the
family of the late footballer?
 |
| In the Green Eagles jersey |
On August 12, 1989, late
Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji slumped and died while playing for the then Green
Eagles of Nigeria in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against the Palancas Negras of Angola at the main
bowl of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
Precisely August 12,
this year, it will make it exactly 24 years since the footballer died and forgotten.
His family members especially his mother, who were abandoned by government have
cried out on several occasions all to no avail.
Due to the treatment
meted to Okwaraji and his family, a writer, Chineme Okafor, was forced to re-phrase the national anthem as,
“the labour of our heroes past shall EVER
be in vain” from: “the labour of our heroes past shall NEVER be in vain.”
During his days, Okwaraji
demonstrated patriotism that eventually claimed his life on the field of play. Prior
to his death, a conflict ensued between him and his club, SSV Ulm 1846, which
attracted the attention of the then chairman of the Nigeria Football
Association, NFA, Group Capt. John Obakpolor, who had mediated in the matter to
ensure his participation in the game.
SSV Ulm 1846 had
demanded $45,000 before it could release Okwaraji for the qualifying games as
compensation for what it would lose in gate takings while Okwaraji was away
with the national team. But Obakpolor was able to negotiate a deal for the
country by paying a much lower $15,000 for his release. That was done without
his knowledge and consent.
 |
| His statute at the National Stadium, Lagos |
Okwaraji was reported
to have expressed his disappointment with his club’s action when he learnt of
it and had told them that he will represent Nigeria without paying a dime,
insisting: “I am a lawyer, you know I signed to play football under certain
conditions but I don’t think it included reselling my services to my country.
You or your club cannot stop me from playing for my country. Let me tell you, I
am going to represent my country in the World Cup in Italy whether you like it
or not.”
Though he never made it
to the World Cup, Okwaraji’s level of commitment to Nigeria was great and
equally complimented with his discipline and professionalism such that he never
held the country to ransom for his services, match bonuses or return tickets to
his base; he would rather pay his way without asking for refund. But almost 24
years after his death, Okwaraji’s sacrifices for his country have come to
nought. He died just after he signed a $500,000 contract with Berchem FC of
Antwerp, Belgium.
A football enthusiast,
Tony Nwachukwu, nicknamed stagger claimed that everything that occurred that
day was pointing to tragedy. According to him, “First, 80,000 fans were allowed
into the National Stadium in Surulere, far beyond the capacity. Fans were being
thrown down from terraces as the game progressed. 12 eventually died that day.
Then on to the game
itself, the Angolans employed an extremely physical approach, hacking at our
players with no mercy. Tackle after tackle after tackle. Then Austin Eguavoen
missed a penalty. If not for the single goal scored by Stephen Keshi and the
penalty save in the second half from goalkeeper David Ngodigha after Sunday
Egboigbe's double error, in giving the ball away, we would have gone home
empty-handed.
 |
| On the fateful day |
Then Sam fell. The
crowd gasped. Samson Siasia walked over to him and according to him, Sam's last
words were “call me a doctor.” Siasia lifted up his hands and beckoned
frantically to the bench that there was trouble. Okwaraji was taken to an
ambulance which could not start because the battery was down. And he died right
there in the ambulance.
The autopsy on his
remains later showed that he had died of an enlarged heart. Nigeria went on to
lose the qualifying ticket to Cameroun on August 27, 1989 at the Stade
Omnisports in Yaounde by a lone goal.
 |
| During his days in SSV Ulm 1846 |
His teammate, Dahiru
Sidi in a 2011, who is now a backroom staff at Kaduna United stated that, “It
was a shock to all of us all with the way it happened. I came on as a
substitute in that game in the second half and minutes after the game we were
told Samuel Okwaraji was dead.
“At that point the win
meant nothing to us and I think it affected us in our next game (against
Cameroon). Unfortunately we failed to qualify for the World Cup, which would
have been a befitting way to honour Okwaraji for his hard work and commitment.”
Paul Hamilton, who was
then part of the coaching team, said, “Even in death till date, he still
remains a player who set a good example that present day players in the national
team can learn from,” Hamilton said.
 |
| The mother, Mrs Jane |
He narrated how
Okwaraji broke into the Nigerian squad as a foreign-based player-cum-student. “We
had gone for a playing tour of Germany and the then Nigeria Football
Association, NFA chairman, retired Group Captain John Obakpolor paid us a visit
at our training ground. He spoke to Manfred Hoener, the then Nigeria's head
coach and myself of a young Nigerian student who was schooling and playing
football in Germany.
“The student turned out
to be Samuel Okwaraji and immediately he was invited to join the camp. Okwaraji
impressed me in his first training session and that was how he got invited for
the preparation for the Maroc '88 Africa Cup of Nations.”
“He was always among
the first to report to camp before our matches. And you cannot miss his hard
work and that impressed the coaches and that was how he made the team to
Morocco. It was painful that he died just when he started his career.
Born in Orlu in Imo
State on May 19, 1964, the late soccer hero had before his death played about
10 matches for Nigeria and scored once. He made his national team debut against
Algeria at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu in a Seoul 1988 Olympic
qualifier and played a key role at the 1988 African Cup of Nations in Morocco,
where he scored the fastest goal of the tournament against Cameroon in the group
stages.
Okwaraji also played at
the Olympics in Seoul the same year before his last outing against Angola in
Lagos. In between, he had played professional football with NK Dynamo Zagreb of
Yugoslavia, Vfb Stuttgart and SSV Ulm 1846 of Germany and also got his
Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in international law from the University of
Rome.
Apart from his
traditional mother tongue, Igbo, Okwaraji also spoke German, English, Spanish
and the Italian languages and was described as a thorough professional with a
heart for Nigeria. Such was his patriotism that he was reported to have often
played games for the country without requesting for flight tickets and match
bonuses.
He was seen as somebody
who loved his country so much that he was always among the very first players
to arrive camp not like what is obtained today where some players have to be
begged to come for national duty.
However, some people
believe that the treatment meted on Okwaraji was unfair and want government to
as a matter urgency address the issue. Recently, Okwaraji’s mother, Mrs. Jane was
said to have lamented on the treatment accorded her late son.
Her words, “Would it be
too much to name the stadium in which he died after him after such a wonderful
sacrifice? It is usual to retire the jersey number in which a star footballer
died as a mark of respect for such a star but in the case of Sam, it did not
happen.
“Besides, there was no
insurance payment for him and we could not get his entitlements from his club
abroad because Sam, as it were, did not wait to formally obtain permission from
his club before coming to play for the country and died in that match.”
Jane disclosed that the
government made promises to help them out with the care of the children when
Sam died because he was the family’s provider but nothing was done. “I am so
surprised that a government could make false promises and also fail to fulfill
the pledges it made. The government could not feel the death of the 24-year-old
boy who died labouring to bring glory to Nigeria. That is so unfair. Nigeria
has disappointed me because the government promised to help train my children
to any level of education and at the same time helps the family but they have
failed.”
Chairman of the Nation-Wide
League, Ahmed Kawo noted that government cannot do everything. He claimed that
the Nigeria Football Federation has done its best and because of the huge
responsibilities and lean purse, they have been restricted.
He however called on the
private sectors as their corporate responsibilities to contribute their quota
to the family of the late footballer in order to encourage upcoming ones. Kawo
also urged individuals to contribute their widow’s mite to the family.
Secretary general of
the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Andrew Abah also towing the
line of Kawo want government to do something concerning Okwaraji. He advised
late Okwaraji’s present state governor, Rochas Okorocha to take up the
challenge by not only reminding Nigerians about the greater player but also
table the matter before the federal government.
Abah is convinced that
President Goodluck Jonathan will do something concerning the issue considering
what he has done recently especially in honouring sports men and women for
their performances. According to him, “If the President can reward the Sydney
2000 Olympic athletes for the gold medal which was just given to them by the
IOC, he can do something concerning Okwaraji’s family, he just needed to be
reminded,” he noted.
On his immortalization,
she said, “That has been my pain all these while, they haven’t done anything to
immortalise this boy because he gave his life, money and education for this
country and nothing has been done to immortalise him. He slumped and died at
the National Stadium in Lagos. But when you go there, you will see his statue
that was erected at the gate but I don’t know if that is the kind of
immortalisation that befits Sam.
“24 years back it was
Okwaraji, and a couple of years ago it was Rashidi Yekini, tomorrow it may be
Kanu Nwankwo, another great footballer who has done so well for the country yet
the government does not deem it fit to honour these men and women that have
served to glorify this country, but would rather honour thieves and crooks with
high profile honours,” she lamented.
Simon Ibiam, a computer
analyst wants something to be done about the statute of Okwaraji, he said, “There
is the statue of the late Teslim Balogun at the entrance to the Teslim Balogun
Stadium opposite the National Stadium. It’s imposing and you can’t miss it.
Okwaraji deserves something like that or more. He was a national hero who died
serving Nigeria. It does not matter if the Federal Government does it or any
state government.”
Coach of a five-aside
Futsal team commended the Lagos State government for remembering the late
player, but wants the stadium to be named after him. “There are many stadiums
named after people who did not contribute to the progress of this nation.
Okwaraji did and died here. What other reason do we need to honour him with
this stadium? Since he died here serving Nigeria, the stadium should be named
after him.”
A football fan, Hyacinth
Okoro asked so many questions, “There are so many players I
cannot remember now. Have they been immortalised? Have they been given National
Awards? What has happened to their families? When last did a government
official ever care to call or visit their people to know how they have fared
all these years that their breadwinners have died? Has the government fulfilled
any of the promised made to Sam Okwaraji's family?
“Yet we have thieves
and Boko Haram sponsors being given national awards. God should help them that I
don’t become the president of this country because heads will roll,” he warned.
The statue of Samuel
Okwaraji, with braided dreadlocks, standing about 7ft high sits on a white
marble structure at a park built by the Lagos State government in front of the Surulere
National Stadium, is one of the few reminders that Nigeria is paying
lip-service to its sporting heroes.
Incidentally, so many footballers
have died the way of Okwaraji, some of them are Tunde Charity Ikhidero, one of
the players in the Miracle of Damman U-21 team against Russia, then USSR; Amir
Angwe, a BCC Lions player who won the 1990 African Cup Winners Cup, Endurance Idahor
in Sudanese league amongst others but till date, nothing is being done concerning
the health status of footballers and sports men and women in the country.
However, Okwaraji’s
sudden death was similar to that of Marc-Vivien Foé 14 years later.
Incidentally, the Cameroun was honoured by both his country and the world
football governing body, FIFA with a memorial match and scholarship for his
son.
Mrs Jane however noted if
the treatment meted on her son and family, the acts might affect the psyche of
the younger generation of Nigerians who might not be compelled to give their
best for the glory of Nigeria. “Okwaraji would have been able to live out some
of his dreams that included building a world class youth football academy and a
mini stadium, among others,” but Okwaraji gave all to his country and lost
everything?
