Segun Odegbami broke on the national consciousness with rare panache. He came with sharp skills, and rare goal-poaching instincts that made Ernest Okonkwo, iconic and colourful sports commentator, to dub him “Mathematical” — or even “Algebraic”.
Odegbami came at the age of explosive wingers — the sharp and precise Odegbami on the right; the nimble and flexible Adokiye Amiesimaka on the left — Okonkwo’s very beloved “Chief Justice”. Both were undergraduate internationals that added something fresh: audacious footballing skills need not be mutually exclusive to cutting scholarship. Little wonder then both went on to make rousing successes of their later-life careers.
With his bulging silverware and golden goals, Odegbami’s legacy was assured. He scored two of the three goals Nigeria put past Algeria to win their first African Nations Cup (AFCON) title in Lagos in 1980. With IICC “Shooting Stars” in 1977, he also won Nigeria’s first continental club title: the African Cup of Winners Cup.
Such heights could have been his pinnacle, as they were with most of his sporting contemporaries. Not “Mathematical”! Instead, those hard-earned glories served Odegbami as mere stepping stones, as he went ahead to use the instrumentality of sports to positively impact his environment, aside from sustaining personal nourishment.
It started with sports journalism – basically column writing — in which Odegbami showcased his lexical craft, almost as audacious for a trained engineer (hardly the most felicitous users of language!) as his precision skills on the pitch. That writing he has maintained till this day, becoming some raconteur on Nigerian sports and sports(wo)men. That didn’t fetch him success when he ran for Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, showing how Nigeria often scorns its very best to settle for less. But with his sparkling lexis and frothing style, laced with raw facts, he has over the years maintained rare fidelity to Nigeria’s sporting clans at their highs and lows: “Chairman” Christian Chukwu, when he needed urgent medical help, the mystery of “Goals-father” Rashidi Yekinni’s sudden passage; fitting memorial for “Defence Minister,” Yisa Sofoluwe, with three other former footballers, after his shocking death.
Odegbami’s foray into sports broadcasting opened doors for many a young Turk to find their groove. A prominent example is Funmi Iyanda, the slim, tall and elegant lady who later would make her own mark as diva on television.
The latest manifestation of Odegbami’s ceaseless sports entrepreneurship is his new sports radio, Eagle 7, launched last June. ”The brand of the station is coined after Nigeria’s biggest brand: the Super Eagles,” he told Premium Times, ”and personally, my number as a member and captain of the national team of Nigeria was seven, hence mathematical seven” — savouring those glory and electrical days on the pitch.
He further gushed: “… Eagles 7 sports radio is a true Nigerian brand; the product of hard work, perseverance, commitment, success, and being truly African” — a co-mingling of national pride and personal glory that echoes anew the John F. Kennedy ultimate patriotic challenge: ask not what your country can do for you; ask instead what you can do for your country.”
That would appear the question Odegbami has asked and keeps asking, in his unending romance with his country, like some troubadour entirely devoted to his queen and lady. The answer has, many times, been less than satisfactory. His sports academy, Segun Odegbami International College and Sports Academy, Wasimi, near Abeokuta, Ogun State, has little or no government presence or support. Yet, it has been the path of many youths, via foreign university scholarships, to secure their sports-laden future.
So, if our “Mathematical” spoke of “hard work, perseverance, commitment and success,” that would appear his routine grind in a very challenging environment.
Still, that challenge has never stopped him dreaming dreams, where not a few felt there was no way. When he adopted then tom boy, policewoman Chioma Ajunwa, then soccer-loving young lass, not many saw the potential. Later, Chioma would land Nigeria’s first-ever gold in any event – long jump was her winning sport – at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996; incidentally where Odegbami’s immediate constituency, Dream Team 1, grabbed Africa’s first football Olympic gold.
“Mathematical” Segun Odegbami has done so much for his country. Though with other 1980 AFCON winners he received the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), getting a higher national award, to mark his 70 years, could just be an excellent idea.
It’s fair and just reward for an unapologetic patriot, in an era when many feel they can’t rise unless they put their country down.