Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Moderators: Moderator Team, phpBB2 - Administrators
-
Toxicarrow
- Egg
- Posts: 9667
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2003 12:39 am
- Contact:
Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Celebrating Babuje – One of the greatest goalkeepers in African football history
By Segun Odegbami
23 May 2020 | 4:10 am
It gives me great pleasure to celebrate my friend and compatriot.
Last Sunday, May 17, he turned 69.
He told me on Tuesday how he spent the day very quietly at home with his family in Enugu.
But then, we spoke some more.
We went back in time to the early days of our earliest encounter, our relationship, our shared experiences and where we are now.
We spoke about how the times have changed, from when he was the most famous footballer on the African continent to the present time, living quietly away from the klieg light in Enugu, watching with some pain how the foundations of a game laid with the sweat and blood of pioneer players and administrators, are being systematically eroded by interlopers and opportunists that have brought down and kept domestic Nigerian football on life-support.
The times have truly changed, for worse.
The ‘problem’ with Babuje, for that’s what I call Emmanuel Okala, is that he takes everything in life very seriously. I recall our years in the national camp. He was the unofficial Camp Commandant who would always keep the rest of us along the straight and narrow path. He would quarrel, chastise and shout at any player that attempted to breach camp rules – sneaking out, drinking, smoking, inviting girls to the camp, etc. He hated the very thought of losing any match. So, no sacrifice was too much to make to win a match.
It was that same spirit that drove Enugu Rangers International FC following its formation after the Civil War. I am not sure now who infected the other with the never-say-die spirit between Emmanuel Okala and the Club. To play against Rangers in those days was like going to war. The team played as if the world would end if they lost.
You could see that spirit in Okala’s eyes, in his words, in his mannerisms on and off the field, a single-mindedness about winning that also defined his life in the Green Eagles.
That’s why till this day he is still very angry about the results of two matches the great Rangers
International of Enugu lost very badly. We spoke about one of them again last Tuesday – the defeat of Enugu Rangers by a young Bendel Insurance team coached by Alabi Aissien in the 1978 FA Cup final. The other was their defeat around the same period by an Algerian Club in Algiers on a bitterly cold night when Rangers played on Astro-turf for the first time and without the right kind of shoes. In both matches, Rangers were humbled by three un-replied goals and Okala was in goal. Both defeats still hurt him till this day.
Every time he speaks about the Bendel Insurance match it is with deep pain. Although he has promised to reveal what really happened on the night one day soon, my reading of the match is that they disrespected Bendel Insurance FC and disregarded the warning sign issued by Bendel’s earlier defeat of Shooting Stars International of Ibadan, parading some of the great players in the national team at the time, in the semi-finals by two clear goals.
Rangers paid the price of that disrespect and got their own dose of the bitter pill in the finals. It was even worse. The invincible African goalkeeper and terror of every team in the continent, was made to pick the ball three times from his own net! Okala still hurts, and insists that there was a sinister plot behind that defeat and that one-day he well tell it. We wait.
So, that’s about the part of Okala that hated to lose matches.
There is another part that hated the idea of any so-called top striker scoring a goal against him.
One of his weapons was intimidation. Aside from his giant 6ft 6inches frame that he imposed on strikers, and the hard and menacing look he wore like a mask on his face before matches, sometimes he psychologically tormented opposing strikers.
For example, as the two teams prepared to walk onto the field in the dug outs, and would share a few moments together with the referees, Okala would stare down hard at a particular player or two, and sometimes verbally warn him not to come near his goal area or face the consequences. Words to that effect delivered with the meanest of looks on his face would unnerve a ‘weak’ player.
Okala once struck my colleague Phillip Boamah, the great Shooting Stars and Green Eagles winger, on the head during match as a corner kick was about to be taken against Rangers. He mouthed and warned Phillip not to come near him or face the consequences. Phillip became scared and watched the ball fly past is head in fright, he later confessed to me.
Several months down the line again against Rangers in Kaduna, Phillip could not put the ball away when he came face to face with the ‘giant’ towards the end of the match. He panicked and literarily passed the ball to Okala. That was the best chance in the entire match and scoring that goal would have sent Rangers packing from the semi-finals of the African Club Championship and paved the way for Shooting Stars to get to the finals and possibly win the Africa Cup Winners Cup for the second time.
Emmanuel Okala was a ‘terror’ all over Africa.
He joined the Green Eagles at 21-year old in 1972 and immediately started to set unprecedented records. His height and gangly frame soon packed muscle and power as he started to climb the ladder of fame.
His palm could easily wrap around a ball. His arms span could almost cover the width of the goal posts. His ‘gentle’ goal kicks travelled from one goal area to the other. That meant every time he kicked out the ball the opposing goal area became battle ground. So, playing against Rangers was playing against the ceaseless attacks launched from Okala’s left foot! No pull outs ever crossed his goal mouth un-intercepted. All of these things were reality, not myths.
Okala was so good that in 1975, he became the first goalkeeper in the history of African football to be awarded African Footballer of the year by the African Sports Journalist Union, ASJU, that decided to create a more authentic continental award to replace the continental awards by France Football Magazine that had been independently handling it before then.
He received his award at the ASJU congress in Lomé, Togo. Unfortunately, that was the last time ASJU gave out those awards. That’s why many people are not aware of that his recognition. But it is down in history.
There is a third part yet to Okala and his football exploits.
He hated to fetch the hall from inside his goal. It was always as if the world had ended.
So, he trained hard not to concede any goals even in training and had a particular method of ensuring his sharpness and never conceding cheap goals. He trained like crazy, always challenging the best strikers to duels.
His contest with Thompson Usiyen at training was legendary. They wagered on goals. Thompson was the cleverest goal scoring machine. He would render most goalkeepers useless with his uncanny ability to seize on the slimmest of chances and to bend the ball beyond a goalkeeper. So, Thompson and Okala had a regular, running battle, a contest of Okala’s will and determination against Usiyen’s wits and skills.
Thompson was so good he won quite a lot of those contests. That sharpened Okala’s reflexes. When Thompson left for the United States of America, I automatically became his next Guinea Pig. In my own case, I was not that prolific a goal scorer, so, there was little contest. I don’t recall ever scoring a goal in regulation time against him in any of the several matches we played against Rangers throughout our stay in the national team.
That’s Okala for you – a very serious football player that gave his all to winning.
He wanted me to maintain my goal scoring sharpness so that the national team would always win. So, we became friends and roommates in camp. He did that to keep watchful eyes on me and to keep me in check and away from the distractions of fame.
He was the ultimate competitor and team player, always determined to win, always giving his all and his best, always.
He was first nicknamed Chairman by legendary radio commentator, late Ernest Okonkwo. When Christian Chukwu came onto the scene the same Ernest transferred the ‘Chairmanship’ to Christian and re-nicknamed Okala, Man Mountain. Ernest would occasionally also describe him as ‘Tallest’. But I call him Babuje. I don’t recall where that nickname came from, or what it even meant, but it just sounded right, and he loved it. I believe it has the imprint of late Aloysius Atuegbu.
Whatever anyone chooses to call this gentle giant of a goalkeeper, one thing is indisputable, Emmanuel Okala was a true giant and legend of African football.
I pray that the Creator of the Universe will continue to sustain him along the journey of his life until he gets to 70 next year, and then far, far, far beyond.
Congratulations and a happy Birthday, Babuje!
https://guardian.ng/sport/celebrating-b ... l-history/
By Segun Odegbami
23 May 2020 | 4:10 am
It gives me great pleasure to celebrate my friend and compatriot.
Last Sunday, May 17, he turned 69.
He told me on Tuesday how he spent the day very quietly at home with his family in Enugu.
But then, we spoke some more.
We went back in time to the early days of our earliest encounter, our relationship, our shared experiences and where we are now.
We spoke about how the times have changed, from when he was the most famous footballer on the African continent to the present time, living quietly away from the klieg light in Enugu, watching with some pain how the foundations of a game laid with the sweat and blood of pioneer players and administrators, are being systematically eroded by interlopers and opportunists that have brought down and kept domestic Nigerian football on life-support.
The times have truly changed, for worse.
The ‘problem’ with Babuje, for that’s what I call Emmanuel Okala, is that he takes everything in life very seriously. I recall our years in the national camp. He was the unofficial Camp Commandant who would always keep the rest of us along the straight and narrow path. He would quarrel, chastise and shout at any player that attempted to breach camp rules – sneaking out, drinking, smoking, inviting girls to the camp, etc. He hated the very thought of losing any match. So, no sacrifice was too much to make to win a match.
It was that same spirit that drove Enugu Rangers International FC following its formation after the Civil War. I am not sure now who infected the other with the never-say-die spirit between Emmanuel Okala and the Club. To play against Rangers in those days was like going to war. The team played as if the world would end if they lost.
You could see that spirit in Okala’s eyes, in his words, in his mannerisms on and off the field, a single-mindedness about winning that also defined his life in the Green Eagles.
That’s why till this day he is still very angry about the results of two matches the great Rangers
International of Enugu lost very badly. We spoke about one of them again last Tuesday – the defeat of Enugu Rangers by a young Bendel Insurance team coached by Alabi Aissien in the 1978 FA Cup final. The other was their defeat around the same period by an Algerian Club in Algiers on a bitterly cold night when Rangers played on Astro-turf for the first time and without the right kind of shoes. In both matches, Rangers were humbled by three un-replied goals and Okala was in goal. Both defeats still hurt him till this day.
Every time he speaks about the Bendel Insurance match it is with deep pain. Although he has promised to reveal what really happened on the night one day soon, my reading of the match is that they disrespected Bendel Insurance FC and disregarded the warning sign issued by Bendel’s earlier defeat of Shooting Stars International of Ibadan, parading some of the great players in the national team at the time, in the semi-finals by two clear goals.
Rangers paid the price of that disrespect and got their own dose of the bitter pill in the finals. It was even worse. The invincible African goalkeeper and terror of every team in the continent, was made to pick the ball three times from his own net! Okala still hurts, and insists that there was a sinister plot behind that defeat and that one-day he well tell it. We wait.
So, that’s about the part of Okala that hated to lose matches.
There is another part that hated the idea of any so-called top striker scoring a goal against him.
One of his weapons was intimidation. Aside from his giant 6ft 6inches frame that he imposed on strikers, and the hard and menacing look he wore like a mask on his face before matches, sometimes he psychologically tormented opposing strikers.
For example, as the two teams prepared to walk onto the field in the dug outs, and would share a few moments together with the referees, Okala would stare down hard at a particular player or two, and sometimes verbally warn him not to come near his goal area or face the consequences. Words to that effect delivered with the meanest of looks on his face would unnerve a ‘weak’ player.
Okala once struck my colleague Phillip Boamah, the great Shooting Stars and Green Eagles winger, on the head during match as a corner kick was about to be taken against Rangers. He mouthed and warned Phillip not to come near him or face the consequences. Phillip became scared and watched the ball fly past is head in fright, he later confessed to me.
Several months down the line again against Rangers in Kaduna, Phillip could not put the ball away when he came face to face with the ‘giant’ towards the end of the match. He panicked and literarily passed the ball to Okala. That was the best chance in the entire match and scoring that goal would have sent Rangers packing from the semi-finals of the African Club Championship and paved the way for Shooting Stars to get to the finals and possibly win the Africa Cup Winners Cup for the second time.
Emmanuel Okala was a ‘terror’ all over Africa.
He joined the Green Eagles at 21-year old in 1972 and immediately started to set unprecedented records. His height and gangly frame soon packed muscle and power as he started to climb the ladder of fame.
His palm could easily wrap around a ball. His arms span could almost cover the width of the goal posts. His ‘gentle’ goal kicks travelled from one goal area to the other. That meant every time he kicked out the ball the opposing goal area became battle ground. So, playing against Rangers was playing against the ceaseless attacks launched from Okala’s left foot! No pull outs ever crossed his goal mouth un-intercepted. All of these things were reality, not myths.
Okala was so good that in 1975, he became the first goalkeeper in the history of African football to be awarded African Footballer of the year by the African Sports Journalist Union, ASJU, that decided to create a more authentic continental award to replace the continental awards by France Football Magazine that had been independently handling it before then.
He received his award at the ASJU congress in Lomé, Togo. Unfortunately, that was the last time ASJU gave out those awards. That’s why many people are not aware of that his recognition. But it is down in history.
There is a third part yet to Okala and his football exploits.
He hated to fetch the hall from inside his goal. It was always as if the world had ended.
So, he trained hard not to concede any goals even in training and had a particular method of ensuring his sharpness and never conceding cheap goals. He trained like crazy, always challenging the best strikers to duels.
His contest with Thompson Usiyen at training was legendary. They wagered on goals. Thompson was the cleverest goal scoring machine. He would render most goalkeepers useless with his uncanny ability to seize on the slimmest of chances and to bend the ball beyond a goalkeeper. So, Thompson and Okala had a regular, running battle, a contest of Okala’s will and determination against Usiyen’s wits and skills.
Thompson was so good he won quite a lot of those contests. That sharpened Okala’s reflexes. When Thompson left for the United States of America, I automatically became his next Guinea Pig. In my own case, I was not that prolific a goal scorer, so, there was little contest. I don’t recall ever scoring a goal in regulation time against him in any of the several matches we played against Rangers throughout our stay in the national team.
That’s Okala for you – a very serious football player that gave his all to winning.
He wanted me to maintain my goal scoring sharpness so that the national team would always win. So, we became friends and roommates in camp. He did that to keep watchful eyes on me and to keep me in check and away from the distractions of fame.
He was the ultimate competitor and team player, always determined to win, always giving his all and his best, always.
He was first nicknamed Chairman by legendary radio commentator, late Ernest Okonkwo. When Christian Chukwu came onto the scene the same Ernest transferred the ‘Chairmanship’ to Christian and re-nicknamed Okala, Man Mountain. Ernest would occasionally also describe him as ‘Tallest’. But I call him Babuje. I don’t recall where that nickname came from, or what it even meant, but it just sounded right, and he loved it. I believe it has the imprint of late Aloysius Atuegbu.
Whatever anyone chooses to call this gentle giant of a goalkeeper, one thing is indisputable, Emmanuel Okala was a true giant and legend of African football.
I pray that the Creator of the Universe will continue to sustain him along the journey of his life until he gets to 70 next year, and then far, far, far beyond.
Congratulations and a happy Birthday, Babuje!
https://guardian.ng/sport/celebrating-b ... l-history/
Check out Sooting's website:
https://shootingstarssc.com/
https://shootingstarssc.com/
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
...thank you again Mathematician, great story and history.
And HB to the giant Emmanuel Okalla.
Back in Enugu we call him "Agwo" (snake) for his height and agility to cover the post.
I was once a ball boy sub behind his net.
And HB to the giant Emmanuel Okalla.
Back in Enugu we call him "Agwo" (snake) for his height and agility to cover the post.
I was once a ball boy sub behind his net.
-
Toxicarrow
- Egg
- Posts: 9667
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2003 12:39 am
- Contact:
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Speaking about intimidation and Okalla, here is Coach Alan Hawkes' descriptive account of one of those moments that another Sooting striker had with Okalla in the league match in Enugu.
FYI: Like Philip Boamah that Segun Odegbami mentioned in his tribute above, Cassy na Ghana-man."Their goalkeeper was a giant, around six feet six inches in height. His thighs about the same size in circumference. He was a big boy ....Cassy was on his way, with only the goalkeeper to beat. He ran like a bat out of hell, the ball under control whilst our opponents stood still, as if glued to the ground.
The goalkeeper seemed frozen to the spot. He was about three yards off his line and appeared to be uncertain as what to do, a poor performance indeed for a keeper with his pedigree and international honours. He fidgeted for a brief moment, then advanced quickly forward, meeting Cassy about three or four yards inside the penalty area.
As Cassy drew his foot back to attempt a shot at goal, then keeper lurched forward, one hand outstretched, poking two of his fingers into Cassy's face. Cassy fell like a log, both hands going up to his eyes" - Source: p. 124-128, Up Coach: The story of a soccer missionary.
Check out Sooting's website:
https://shootingstarssc.com/
https://shootingstarssc.com/
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Happy Birthday tallest.
May God keep you till 70, & keep Mathematical & all of us alive & well to rejoice with you then.
Gotta respect Segun Odegbami. He's just kept himself busy & not resigned to fate. In the 1990-93 period, I went to his (Sports) Video Club in the Fadeyi area of Lagos to try to get some Old SE games (He was in that business before EzeSportsWorld). He now runs a Sports Academy not too far from Day Waterman on the way to Abeokuta from Sagamu.
May God keep you till 70, & keep Mathematical & all of us alive & well to rejoice with you then.
Gotta respect Segun Odegbami. He's just kept himself busy & not resigned to fate. In the 1990-93 period, I went to his (Sports) Video Club in the Fadeyi area of Lagos to try to get some Old SE games (He was in that business before EzeSportsWorld). He now runs a Sports Academy not too far from Day Waterman on the way to Abeokuta from Sagamu.
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Nice article. Did Segun Odegbami call Okalla a gentle giant towards the end of the article? I guess you can intimidate your opponents and still be gentle off the field.
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Nice tribute from Uncle Sege.
I would love to hear his side of the story regards our World Cup qualifier 3-2 loss to Ghana in Surulere when it was rumoured that the Ghanaians used Juju and Okalla was seeing 2 balls from the famous feet of Owusu who scored a hat-trick.
Also, there was another match I remember where he was booted in the head and had to be stretchered off, I think it was against Guinea.
I would love to hear his side of the story regards our World Cup qualifier 3-2 loss to Ghana in Surulere when it was rumoured that the Ghanaians used Juju and Okalla was seeing 2 balls from the famous feet of Owusu who scored a hat-trick.
Also, there was another match I remember where he was booted in the head and had to be stretchered off, I think it was against Guinea.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
THOSE KICKS WERE TRULY SOMETHING
They went from goal area to goal area, deployed when he needed to flip the pressure from his end to the opponents'. (Always wondered how, if upon retirement, he'd become a punter in American football). He snatched foolishly taken corner kicks from the air like a kid picking fruit from a tree. Then opponents came up with a strategy: take only grounders. That worked for a while before Okala took that weakness away.
Bell
They went from goal area to goal area, deployed when he needed to flip the pressure from his end to the opponents'. (Always wondered how, if upon retirement, he'd become a punter in American football). He snatched foolishly taken corner kicks from the air like a kid picking fruit from a tree. Then opponents came up with a strategy: take only grounders. That worked for a while before Okala took that weakness away.
Bell
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
You mean 90 minutes on the field is enough to sum up the life of a man? I am sure it had more to do with the remaining chunk of hours off the pitch.olu wrote:Nice article. Did Segun Odegbami call Okalla a gentle giant towards the end of the article? I guess you can intimidate your opponents and still be gentle off the field.
"There is big pressure at this club as you cannot be like the manager at Arsenal and ask for five years to try and to win one trophy" - Jose Mourinho
.... I believe in God. I try to be a good man so He can have a bit of time to give me a hand when I need it - Jose Mourinho
.... I believe in God. I try to be a good man so He can have a bit of time to give me a hand when I need it - Jose Mourinho
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
women can be amazing creatures; i once traveled in a convoy of 20 buses to Ibadan with rangers supporters club to duel with bendel insurance at the liberty stadium in a league quater final match. Result 2-0 Rangers. needless saying i was just a high school kid and it was my first time to ibadan. we arrived ibadan about 12 noon on game day some four hours before kickoff. my first surprise as we drove around the city to announce our arrival was hearing record stores around the city blasting the same music we have listened to in the bus all the way from Enugu - oriental brothers rendition of muritala muhammed. As I now recall this was shortly after his well deserved brutal assassination. To make a long story short, the players had of course traveled days ahead of us for obvious reasons. when we finally pulled up at the hotel where the players usually stayed for all their matches in ibadan it was like a family and mind you the entire hotel staff and para staff that catered to all rangers needs including supporters needs were ibadan citizens and non-igbos. That experience there left an indelible impression on me and thats when my liking for these beautiful creatures - yoruba girls was born. I watched with interest as these girls swarmed around okala after the game and it took a dozen police escort to get okala into his car and off the stadium parking lot. And back at the hotel it was party all night long and by design there were more girls than men that worked at this hotel on rangers game days i guess, and they were very professional and catered to our needs as if we have been living there and i was just a kid traveling with these guys and being exposed for the first time. when I later moved to Lagos after high school all my dreams about these creatures unfolded. I could only imagine the kind of treatment the players actually got.
make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."
-
YemiBrazil
- Eaglet
- Posts: 28332
- Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2004 7:01 pm
- Location: Copacabana
- Contact:
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Yeye human beingjette1 wrote:women can be amazing creatures; i once traveled in a convoy of 20 buses to Ibadan with rangers supporters club to duel with bendel insurance at the liberty stadium in a league quater final match. Result 2-0 Rangers. needless saying i was just a high school kid and it was my first time to ibadan.
We arrived ibadan about 12 noon on game day some four hours before kickoff. my first surprise as we drove around the city to announce our arrival was hearing record stores around the city blasting the same music we have listened to in the bus all the way from Enugu - oriental brothers rendition of muritala muhammed. As I now recall this was shortly after his well deserved brutal assassination. To make a long story short, the players had of course traveled days ahead of us for obvious reasons. when we finally pulled up at the hotel where the players usually stayed for all their matches in ibadan it was like a family and mind you the entire hotel staff and para staff that catered to all rangers needs including supporters needs were ibadan citizens and non-igbos.
That experience there left an indelible impression on me and thats when my liking for these beautiful creatures - yoruba girls was born. I watched with interest as these girls swarmed around okala after the game and it took a dozen police escort to get okala into his car and off the stadium parking lot. And back at the hotel it was party all night long and by design there were more girls than men that worked at this hotel on rangers game days i guess, and they were very professional and catered to our needs as if we have been living there and i was just a kid traveling with these guys and being exposed for the first time. when I later moved to Lagos after high school all my dreams about these creatures unfolded. I could only imagine the kind of treatment the players actually got.
Anyway, thanks so much for the underlined. This is the Nigeria that I know and it's truly refreshing reading about real stuffs not people just creating opinions based on assumptions or expectations and presenting their conclusions as facts about who we are as Nigerians.
*** Every child is A STAR! ***
Only Mister Johnson https://www.amazon.com/Only-Mister-Johnson-Okey-Chigbo/dp/B09DMW3RM9
----------------------------------------------------------------
"A revolution in a personal context, is a turn around of a predominant way of thinking or doing things TO BETTER YOURSELF and effectively BETTER YOUR NATION!!!"
----------------------------------------------------------------
* Progressive Federalism * Personal Revolution * Industrialization *
Only Mister Johnson https://www.amazon.com/Only-Mister-Johnson-Okey-Chigbo/dp/B09DMW3RM9
----------------------------------------------------------------
"A revolution in a personal context, is a turn around of a predominant way of thinking or doing things TO BETTER YOURSELF and effectively BETTER YOUR NATION!!!"
----------------------------------------------------------------
* Progressive Federalism * Personal Revolution * Industrialization *
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Happy birthday Emanuel Okala.
Ara lao mada o, ao ni daran.
Arambara!
Ohamadike of Ijebu Igbo in Biafra land
I am a cat face yorobber son of Afonja skull miner!
Arambara!
Ohamadike of Ijebu Igbo in Biafra land
I am a cat face yorobber son of Afonja skull miner!
-
Chief Ogbunigwe
- Eaglet
- Posts: 40560
- Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2003 2:35 pm
- Location: Somewhere
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
The Legendary Okala. Happy Birthday Sir.
AFCON 2019 sweet o
Barren for 37 yrs no good o
New member and Titled Chief, Distant Gunners Consortium.
"This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water."
Barren for 37 yrs no good o
New member and Titled Chief, Distant Gunners Consortium.
"This is an island surrounded by water, big water, ocean water."
-
Toxicarrow
- Egg
- Posts: 9667
- Joined: Wed Dec 24, 2003 12:39 am
- Contact:
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Check out Sooting's website:
https://shootingstarssc.com/
https://shootingstarssc.com/
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
the greatest discovery will be of antioxidant agent that stops old age
Last edited by jette1 on Sun Jun 14, 2020 6:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely true."
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Egbon Sege, well done... 
Happy Birthday Tallest!
Happy Birthday Tallest!
#ENDSARS #BLM
#ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY
#FREESENEGAL
#ENDPOLICEBRUTALITY
#FREESENEGAL
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Happy birthday to him.
Okalla appears to be the most well known Nigerian player amongst Ghanaian football fans (the ones of a certain era obviously) and Odegbami is second, I can't fathom why though.
Happy birthday to a Nigerian hero.
Okalla appears to be the most well known Nigerian player amongst Ghanaian football fans (the ones of a certain era obviously) and Odegbami is second, I can't fathom why though.
Happy birthday to a Nigerian hero.
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Got some classic tapes from that his shop too. Still miffed that my family misplaced them after I travelled out of the country.truetalk wrote:Happy Birthday tallest.
May God keep you till 70, & keep Mathematical & all of us alive & well to rejoice with you then.
Gotta respect Segun Odegbami. He's just kept himself busy & not resigned to fate. In the 1990-93 period, I went to his (Sports) Video Club in the Fadeyi area of Lagos to try to get some Old SE games (He was in that business before EzeSportsWorld). He now runs a Sports Academy not too far from Day Waterman on the way to Abeokuta from Sagamu.
"WE ARE THE SUPER EAGLES!!!"
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
...And a happy birthday to the legendary Emmanuel Okala.
"WE ARE THE SUPER EAGLES!!!"
Re: Emma Okalla at 69: My tribute- Segun Odegbami
Happy birthday tallest.
I apologize on behalf of all those ignoramuses comparing you to Enyeama.
Forgive them for they know not what they do....
I apologize on behalf of all those ignoramuses comparing you to Enyeama.
Forgive them for they know not what they do....
Form is temporary; Class is Permanent!
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.
We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.
We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp