WHEN Daniel Igali was born in Eniwari, Bayelsa State, in Southern Nigeria on February 3, 1974, he was also given a local Ijaw name Baraladei – which could partly explain his rise from obscurity to wrestling stardom.
Igali in his second spell as a member of Bayelsa House of Assembly yet remains true to the sport as a coach and administrator, admitting to that famous Greek soldier, Marcus Aurelius, that ‘the art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.’
“Baraladei is the name given to me at birth and it means ‘I got what I wanted in my hands’, began Igali, the Nigerian-turned Canadian freestyle wrestler in a lively conversation with MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN.
DON’T think being named Baraladei alone contributed to my preference for wrestling over football for instance. I think wrestling was a bit more of a natural sport for my Ijaw kinsmen than football was.
“While growing up, football was played for pleasure but a lot more seriousness was attached to wrestling because of its cultural significance to the Ijaw man. In contrast, activities like Football betting were viewed more as casual pastimes rather than serious traditions. I naturally got drawn to wrestling because the most important cultural icons were wrestlers in my community and clan and I wanted to be like them.”
Igali not only followed his passion, he was so good on the mat and earned his stripes with many feats.
He captained the Nigerian wrestling team to the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada but he stayed behind as an asylum seeker until he eventually acquired a Canadian citizenship in 1998.
Good things, indeed, come in small packages, and Igali’s remarkable achievement in the colours of his adopted country was well noted on the Canadian Olympic team official website: ‘Igali provided the perfect capper for Canada in Sydney when he won Canada’s first and so far only Olympic gold medal in men’s wrestling. Born and raised in Nigeria, Igali had stayed in Canada after competing at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria. After his final victory, Igali honoured his new country by laying the Canadian flag in the centre of the ring, dancing around it and kissing it.’
Over two decades on, Igali said he took that gut decision to swap nationalities for obvious reasons, insisting he had no regret whatsoever for dumping Nigeria for Canada.
“I took the decision (to seek asylum in Canada in 1994) due to the political uncertainty (in Nigeria), the opportunity for education and the opportunity to have a sporting career alongside education,” noted Igali who describes himself as a PETGG – Passionate, Energetic, Trustworthy, Go-Getter. “Given the same circumstances and conditions, if I was to make that decision again today, I would make exactly the same decision; I don’t regret it one bit. In fact, I feel that if I had gone to Canada at the age of 10, I could have been a multiple Olympic champion but I am extremely grateful to God for all his mercies.”
With Canada, Igali won 116 consecutive matches wrestling at Simon Fraser University from 1997 to 1999. He placed fourth at the 1998 World Championships. He finished second at the 1998 World Cup and won a bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Igali won a gold medal in the men’s 69 kg freestyle wrestling, and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Igali won a gold medal in the men’s 74 kg freestyle wrestling.
He revelled in the joy of coming from a humble background while speaking on his many conquests on the wrestling mat: “Well it only goes to prove that one should take talents and passion very seriously as no one knows which field of endeavour would make one a household name.
“I remember when older men in my community would tell me I would not get very far in wrestling because I did not have the gigantic frame required to be a celebrated wrestler.
“In Ijaw traditional wrestling, there are no weight classes. So a 100kg wrestler would contest a match against a 70kg wrestler and in all, I give glory to God for the enablement; and I’m happy to see my wards trying to emulate what God used me to do so they could also be celebrated in their own right,” intoned Igali.
According to an excerpt from his Foundation website, Igali actually began wrestling at the age of 16 and entered the Nigerian National Senior Tournament and concentrated on Greco Roman Style wrestling where all the rules of international freestyle prevailed – with the exception that no holds below the waist were allowed.
Disappointment forced him to change styles once again. In 1992, he trained hard, losing 8 kg to make the necessary 62 kg weight class. He represented Nigeria at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, finishing 11th and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 1998, he was fourth at the World Championships and second at the World Cup. He became a Canadian citizen in 1998. On 30 September 1999 at Ankara, Turkey, he won the title in the 69 kg grouping – automatically qualifying for the (Sydney 2000) Olympics. He was the first Canadian to win the World Championship and was reportedly motivated by his adoptive mother, Maureen Matheny, who was dying of cancer and whom Igali described as his greatest inspiration.
He is today the best inspiration for guys and gals under his watch as the President of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation and he enthused that nothing gives him pleasure than the ‘hustle and bubble’ of wrestling even long after he retired from the sport that gave him fame and fortune.
“Wrestling still remains my best form of exercise,” confessed Igali who was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012. “So, I train with my athletes first and foremost to get some exercise; secondly, it’s because I still coach.
“In coaching, once you stay away from the mats, like everything else, you start to forget technique, variations and combinations of technique.
“I consider myself to still be 20 percent athlete, 30 percent coach and 50 percent administrator; there are still a lot of tricks up my sleeve that I share with the wrestlers and being among and around the athletes increase the tempo and concentration in training sessions and even in competitions. And I am sure the athletes also know the benefit they derive from their cheerleader who also supports the technical crew,” he said.
The 2016 Summer Olympics – officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016 – is around the corner but Igali was cautious about the chances of the wrestlers under his watch: “We have some good talent on the team; we have a relatively young team with about half of the team under 25 years and more than that, they are also relatively inexperienced.
“Only Blessing Oborududu is going to her second Olympics; everyone else is going to the Olympics for the first time. I am hesitant to discuss medals. In my view, we have not done our part as a country to fully prepare the athletes for medal performances. That is, however, not to suggest that we aren’t capable of winning medals; my regret and worry is that if we win a bronze in Rio, it’s because we did not do enough to win the gold!”
He further spoke candidly about factors endangering sport in Nigeria: “Lack of planning, inadequate funding from both private and public coffers (are some of the issues affecting development of sport in Nigeria).
“It is also tough grappling with the same issues at the Wrestling Federation; all efforts to get private funding have proved abortive.
“We are still forging ahead. But without adequate funding and planning, we will remain mediocre and perpetually underachieve in sports both continental and globally.”
Indeed, as many argued, Igali can be frank to a fault. But that shouldn’t be a big deal for a Master of Arts candidate in the criminology department at Simon Fraser University (SFU) – a public research university in British Columbia, Canada.
“I want to have a better understanding of the criminal mind (and that is why I went to study criminology),” said Igali who was injured during a violent robbery in 2006 while visiting Nigeria. “But it is difficult to figure out the mind of a criminal because it is always a process. I don’t think anyone has figured it out (the mind of a criminal) or ever will as crime tends to evolve with modern trends and technology.”
Despite his Canadian connection, Igali remains a proud Ijaw man and he’s regarded as ‘a man of the people.’ He has been in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly since 2011 representing Southern Ijaw Constituency 3 and was re-elected for a second term despite stiff opposition in April last year.
“I have always felt it’s always better to make decisions or influence decisions from the inside than from the outside,” informed Igali who lost a provincial election as a candidate of Surrey-Newton for the British Columbia Liberal Party in 2005. “I am sure with many more sports people and people passionate about sports eventually getting into law-making and decision-making positions, the plight of sports and sportsmen would change in Nigeria.”
