General Christopher Gwabin Musa, OFR, the 18th Chief of Defence Staff of the Nigerian Armed Forces, and I had a brief meeting last week. Nevertheless, his remarks were sufficient to provoke some nostalgia, introspection, and remembrance.

Therefore, I am going back in time to honour some exceptional Nigerian athletes whose names will live on forever in the annals of history with a little but well-deserved homage.

This is not a scholarly investigation on the military’s role in Nigerian sports. Since I started participating in Nigerian sports in the early 1970s, it is my extremely modest experience. I’m sorry for its limitations.

I believe that the military has always had a significant role in Nigerian sports. It was not uncommon to hear about a soldier who became the first Nigerian to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games or any other international competition. Despite becoming a pariah due to his involvement in the 1966 coup d’etat, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna still maintains that status.

The military was in charge when I joined the national football team’s camp following my participation in the First National Sports Festival in 1973, which was the first and biggest domestic sporting event in Nigeria’s history. They had a pervasive presence and effect on sports. They had a large number of well-trained soldiers, well-maintained barracks, disciplined officers, a long history of physical training, and the authority of government decree to complete tasks with military accuracy and “alacrity” (as my late father used to say) free from bureaucratic roadblocks.

The military’s concept was far ahead of its time. Some of its warriors were exceptionally intelligent, well-rounded, and well-versed in sports management. In order to bring the nation’s young together following the Civil War in 1970, the military administration organised the National Sports Festival and a number of national and international contests, among other events. Hosting these important international sporting events (as well as other social and cultural gatherings) has the added benefit of accelerating the development of sports, social services, and infrastructure—not just at military institutions but throughout the nation.

Henry Adefope, Alabi Isama, and Joseph Garba were the first names I heard of in the field of sports administration, aside from Isaac Akioye, the civilian Director of Sports. Samuel Ogbemudia and David Jemibewon, my own governor in Western Nigeria, were next in line.

But among the national athletes, Major General Joseph Garba was the most well-known and glitzy. He was a tall, attractive basketball “freak” who played the sport and promoted it. From Dodan Barracks, the then-official seat of government, he oversaw national basketball operations, bringing together the top players in the nation to create a squad that served as the foundation of the national squad.

By hiring an African American basketball coach to lead the team in the barracks, he unintentionally sparked the growth of great athletes in Nigeria.

Oliver B. Johnson arrived in Nigeria in this manner.

Major events were being held back-to-back at the time: the first National Sports Festival, the Nigeria/Ghana Sports Festival, and the Second All African Games all took place in the same calendar year, right after the National Stadium, Surulere, a stunning, cutting-edge sports complex that was the pride of the country in 1972, opened.

The stadium included top-notch facilities for more than 20 different sports that were part of the then-existing National Sports Commission, or NSC. As the National Sports Commission’s headquarters and a major centre for sports and social interaction, it was frequented daily by athletes from a variety of sports, fostering the development of a new sports ecosystem.

The new National Institute for Sports, a “copy” of the German Sports Institute in Hennef, Germany, one of the most cutting-edge sports institutions in the world, was located on the grounds. The NIS included the best gymnasium in Africa, as well as very sophisticated science research labs. The twisted skeleton is still visible in Lagos, where anybody may visit and cry.

In the 21st century, the idea of utilising sporting events as a vehicle for growth outside of sports has gained popularity around the world, demonstrating the forward-thinking attitude of the military officials who oversaw Nigerian sports at the time. Using sports to advance national development agendas outside of sports is what is currently taking on in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and even Morocco. Inspired by the military, Nigeria was on that route more than fifty years ago.

During the 1970s and a portion of the 1980s, everything went well. By the mid-1990s, the affluent established foundations were being undermined by corrupted influences. Eventually, they stopped and undermined all of the earlier hard work.

Oliver B. Johnson arrived and introduced elite basketball to Nigeria. Even now, the octogenarian continues to live and work at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria.

He found and led Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon, Nigeria’s best basketball export, to the United States.

But his most significant achievement was bringing his friend, the famed African American athlete Lee Edward Evans, into the nation illegally while pretending to be recruiting a new basketball coach.

A 400-meter runner, two-time Olympic gold medallist, and world record holder in eleven different sprint events, Lee Evans, who is also African American, was one of the finest and most well-known track athletes in history at the time.

Before becoming Nigeria’s chief coach of athletics, Lee briefly relocated to the University of Ife to serve as an athletics coach. Beginning in the mid-1970s, he established a top-tier track-athlete development program that yielded Nigeria’s first elite runners. With the help of Lee and numerous other foreign coaches from the USA, China, Cuba, Yugoslavia, Germany, and other countries who were brought in by the military government to establish a strong foundation for sports development in Nigeria, some Nigerian universities and the USA implemented collegiate systems that allowed some of the country’s most talented athletes to develop into some of the best in the world.

Additionally, the military provided talented young Nigerian athletes with incentives to enlist in any branch of the military, serve as soldiers, and participate in military competitions. Numerous sportsmen served as national representatives and were NCOs (non-commissioned officers), combining the advantages of two professions: athletics and the military.

With the military in the forefront, Nigerian sports had a heyday in the years just before the Civil War and for almost 20 years later.

The recollections of that period have turned sentimental.

In recognition of their exceptional service to the military and to Nigeria, I have tried to include a few names of some of the military actors here in order to do them honour.

This isn’t in any certain time or merit order.

Major General Henry Adefope; Major General Joseph Garba; Major General Shehu Musa Yar Adua (who plays hockey); Brigadier General Alabi Isama; Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia; Major General David Jemibewon; Major General Sho-Silva; Major General Mamman Kontagora; Major General Ishola Williams; Major General M S Toki; Major General Y Y Kure; Major General Akeju; Admiral Jubril Ayinla; Air Commodore Emeka Omeruah; Air Commodore Anthony Ikazaboh; Air Commodore Bayo Lawal; Group Captain Brai Ayonote; Squadron Leader Patrick Olalere; Brigadier General HOD Eghagha; Group Captain John Obakpolor; Brigadier General Dominic Oneya; Colonel Maharaja Mamudu; Colonel Abdulmumuni Aminu; Major General Emmanuel Okaro; and numerous others that are difficult for me to recall at this time.

Few of these executives were athletes; most were administrators serving Nigeria.

Additionally, the military developed a number of exceptional athletes who competed for Nigeria in important international competitions, such as the World Military Games, the All-African Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, and the African Cup of Nations in football.

Some of the ones I can remember from my experience are listed below. They participated in a variety of sports:

WO Inua Lawal Rigogo; WO Olusegun Olumodeji; WO Samuel Opone; Sergeant Kadiri Ikhana; WO Emmanuel Tetteh; Colonel Taiwo Ogunjobi; Abass Mohammed; Yohanna Waziri; Rufus Ejele; WO Ganiyu Salami; WO Kenneth Olayombo; WO Eyo Essien; WO Major Tunde Panox; WO Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna; Alfred Bell (Navy); Colonel Jaiye Abidoye; Kola Abdullahi (Air Force); Edward Akika (Air Force); Major Tunde Panox; and others.

I commend General Christopher Musa, the Defence Chief of Staff, the new “Sheriff in Town,” on behalf of all these outstanding administrators and sportsmen, for his current endeavour to bring back the military’s and the nation’s sporting heritage.