Tomi Alampasu, father of the Nigeria’s Under-17 World Cup hero, Dele, revealed how his son stopped him from riding commercial motorbike (Okada) since he has become a celebrity. He spoke to Taiwo Abiodun
TOMI Alampasu, father of Golden Gloves winner, Dele, is revelling in the joy of his new-found status as a celebrity on the strength of his son sterling performance at the recently concluded 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the UAE.
The modest home of the Alampasus in Itoki in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State has turned into a Mecca of some sorts since Dele rose against all odds to help the Golden Eaglets win a record fourth World Cup title in November.
“I thank God that Dele has brought so much honour to our family and I have become a celebrity,” the fairly old man said. “Before now, people hardly noticed or greeted me, but since my son’s performance with the Under-17 team, I have become popular and people now greet me with honour and respect.”
To say that he is a proud father is an understatement. According to him, it is like a dream seeing his son shake hands with the high and mighty in the society. “I was excited when I saw my son shake hands with President Goodluck Jonathan the other day. Who I am I to meet these people? What qualification do I have? Me, an ordinary person? But I thank God my son has made it, and I am very proud of him.
“I only saw past Nigerian Heads of State from a far distance. I saw General Obasanjo face-to-face after he left government and I equally saw General Muhammad Buhari (Retd) in the stadium when he came to campaign, but after that I did not see any other heads of state except on television,” he said.
When our correspondent visited the Alamapasus, it was obvious that their home needs an urgent renovation and the old man said he was hopeful that the success of his ward would eventually translate to something meaningful in earnest. According to the old man, he hopes to complete his house which is still under construction even as he narrated his son’s obscurity-to-stardom stuff.
He said: “I feel happy that it has turned out well for my son as I could remember when our parents used to fight and discourage us that we should not play football when we were young; saying we were idling away our precious time .
“I did the same thing when my son started and I used to quarrel with him but God has His own purpose for him and the family. My son is a great boy, from childhood he used to go out playing football and would not come home early from school and always in dirty clothes while I used to quarrel with him and spank him, believing he was doing a wrong thing.
“When he could not cope any longer, he came home one day to inform me that he was no longer interested in going to school but insisted that he wanted to learn a trade and become an artisan and he chose welding. Which I totally agreed with and I gave him my blessing, and said with all pleasure that I was in support of the trade, not knowing that he had another thing in mind – he had deceived me!”
He continued: “For days, I was not seeing him at his working place where he was serving as an apprentice. At a point, I wanted to arrest his boss, whose shop is close to my house where he was learning the trade, when I did not see him; we searched for him for a very long time. Thank God that I saw him at last, but when I saw him he was in a football boots and I had to plead with him to come back home, but he ran away from home for years.
“But my people used to see him in football kits either while he was on his way for training or was going somewhere to lay his head. Then I was moulding bricks to eke out a living, in addition to my using my motorcycle for commercial purposes. When nothing was forthcoming I started on full time riding a commercial motorcycle, okada, to make money.
“It was after a long time that he eventually got in touch with me when he wanted to sign some document for visa. He didn’t spend up to two weeks before he went to Abuja from where he called me and said he had been invited to Abuja. I advised him to be of a good behaviour. But I must confess to you that I did not regret his running away to play football because it has eventually bore good results!
“He has senior brothers but his name has overshadowed the rest of them all. He’s my fifth child but his name has now overshadowed others and everybody now call me Baba Dele!
“He couldn’t have been where he is today if he had not done what he did, though I was not happy then. I bought about three clothes for him before he ran away and recently I threw them away for they did not size him again. But one thing I noticed in him is that despite his hustling he had never stolen a pin from anywhere and I did not hear any bad news about him.”
Dele may have taken after his father in many respects following his father’s declaration that he was in love with the beautiful game of football in his younger days.
“I didn’t joke with football and acting (theatre) when I was young,” he revealed. “All the scars on my body were as a result of the football.
“Our environment was rough then and there was no exposure as such. When I left secondary school, I joined the military, but I later ran away the third month because I could not cope. I thank God, I really thank God that, through Dele, things are going to be better.
“Before, I used to go to functions to watch when I had money but when I had no money I couldn’t go out because I had to use my meagre resources for the children. When I saw my son sitting with big people I was elated. When I watched the President of FIFA giving my son an award, I was happy.
“The children we have today want freedom, they should be allowed to be playing their ball, if it is theatre or acting they should be left alone, we should give them the freedom. The lesson I learnt here is that we should leave these children alone to do what interests them most,” he said, even as he looked for a better life.
“Some said I was once a butcher at Idi-Iroko, yet I don’t know how to cut meat into pieces,” he said in his jocular manner.
“Some said I was a carpenter; in fact, many have said so many things about me but the fact is that I was using motorbike (okada) for commercial purposes. Hardship made me to join the league of okada riders, one can’t say he is happy riding an okada; it is borne out of frustration. There is no money in it except one is fortunate to meet a philanthropist who can afford to give you money. Okada money is peanuts, your clothes would turn brown. What is in okada? It is a wahala(difficult) job!
“The very day my son was decorated by the president, that was when I stopped riding okada and my son came to warn me that anytime he sees me riding okada he would not be happy with me.
“He said: ‘daddy, you know I am a champion now, if I am told that you are still riding okada I will be annoyed. I should not see you riding okada again’, and I don’t pray anything should push me to doing that kind of job again.
“Before I became popular I was the only one living here; nobody even recognised me. But now the way I am being greeted has changed. Those who were not greeting me before are now greeting me and those who were not my friends before have become my friends.
“I thank God I did not have a useless boy, he was born in 1996. Hs name is Runkonayon Dele Alampasu, we are from the Egun tribe from Badagry,” said the friendly old man, who intoned that Dele has truly lived up to the meaning of his surname Alampasu, which in their dialect means a warrior that cannot be confronted of defeated!”
