Oluwatosin Enesi
Segun Odegbami remains one of the finest and greatest footballers that has ever represented Nigeria and Africa, and has since become a sports journalist and commentator after his retirement.
In a recent interview, Dr. Odegbami while speaking about his journey as a footballer revealed that he grew up a a complete Nigerian.
“I am Segun Odegbami, my background is football, that’s what most people know me for, I stopped football many many decades ago, now I’m involved with sport management and of late education. I am a proprietor of a secondary school that doubles as a sport institute where we train young boys and girls in the field of sports. I was born in Lagos, grew up in Jos and completed my education in Ibadan, and went back to Lagos since the past seven years I’ve been living in this beautiful paradise called Waasinmi in Orile, where my school is situated and where I believe I will spend the rest of my life.
“For me I grew up as a complete Nigerian, I could speak the igbo language because I went to Catholic schools that had large population of igbo guys. I grew up in the north, I had to interact with lot of Hausas that meant I could speak Hausa language and of course I am Yoruba. So I understood the three languages and I had friends across the three tribes and in 1966 after the program, the indigene of the environment started coming out from where they were to start interacting with those of us living in Jos, so it was One Nigeria in jos at those time, it was a very small town, there was no taxes or buses, so every body walked, at most you rode on bicycles and so we all knew each other. All those I grew up with in Jos, we still up till now those of us that are still alive, we still interact and so on, so it was fantastic growing up in Jos.”
Speaking on how he got his popular nickname, Mathematical7, Dr. Odegbami revealed that the late veteran sportscaster gave him the nickname.
“I’m not so sure why late Earnest Okonkwo, who was a sportscaster gave me that nickname, mathematical but I guess it must or it had to do with how i played. In describing how I played or where I played or where I played, he could have used the word mathematical or in describing the fact the I was studying mechanical engineering at the time and that is mathematics I really don’t know, but that name has stood for over 30 years now.”
He also said that but for his injury in the semi finals at the Africa Champions competition, he would have been named Africa’s best player in 1984.
“I retired in 1982 but then in 1984 I was invited again by Chief Lekan Salami, my mentor, to come back and play again for the shooting stars and we got to the finals of the Africa Champions club for the first time in our history again and every one has believed we are going to win infact I was poised, I believe I would have been named Africa best player that year, because I was doing so well, very matured, I knew what I was doing exactly, until we got to the semi final, where I got injured and I couldn’t play again until the very last match in Lagos.”
According to Mathematical7, Stephen Keshi is the best coach in the Nigerian football history.
“I think Stephen Keshi is the best Nigerian coach ever in our history, he has every thing, he played the game in Nigeria, he played the game in some African countries professionally, he went aboard he played the Belgium, played the France and he won the nations cup as captain. Went to the world cup and when he finished, he became a coach, so he is the most complete, the most equipped Nigeria player in our history to have become a coach.”
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