The then Green Eagles left winger, Dr Felix Owolabi-Akinloye, an alumnus of the University of Lagos, does not keep quiet when he should speak up, especially on Football issues. He just shared his perspective with TheTabloid.net on the decay to which some Nigerian sports facilities have been subjected. Excerpts
When did you play your first match inside the National Stadium?
I played my first match inside the National Stadium when I joined the national team, the Green Eagles. I was invited to the national camp in 1976 after my school certificate examination. But I could not meet the team when I arrived Lagos. I stayed back in Lagos till they returned and I was later brought into the team.
Which team did you play against in your first match inside the stadium?
It was at the first West African Games in 1977. We played against Benin Republic and beat them 7–0. This is the same Benin Republic Nigeria now finds difficult to beat.
What was the feeling in you during the match?
The feeling was very strong because you had to earn the green and white shirt; it was a stiff contest for shirts in the camp. So, when you were fielded, you feel that sense of fulfilment which inspired you to be at the best because of the cheering crowd of supporters singing and shouting ‘all we are saying give us more goal.’ You could not just afford to mess up in that circumstance. The crowd was there to boo you and call for your substitution.
Were you scared by this intimidating chorus?
Seeing the crowd for the first time could truly be intimidating, but I did not entertain any fear because I was very sure of myself, playing to our Coach Father Tiko’s instruction. I remember vividly that I played as left full back in that my first match.
What did it take to play and excel inside that stadium?
It took discipline, determination and hard work to satisfy the supporters and their pressure to see us winning, not even drawing, all matches. I cannot recall how I became their toast in every match I played. But I know that I was an all-out player; fast, strong and what you may call a buldozer. These attributes earned me ‘Owo Blow’ given to me by fans. At a point, my team mates were asking me if I had used a charm on the fans for singling me out for ovation all the time. We were dedicated to the national team; we were not after money but the pride of wearing that green and white shirt.
Can you remember your last match inside that stadium?
That was our match, the then IICC Shooting Stars, against Zamalek of Egypt at the final of the 1984 African Cup of Champions Clubs. I had retired earlier from the national team after we failed to defend the African Nations Cup we had won in 1980. That was at the ‘Libya 82’. We returned home from Libya, I retired and faced my education as undergraduate of the University of Lagos. But I was still playing for the Shooting Stars and, in fact, won the first CAF Cup here in Ibadan in 1992. Late Chief MKO Abiola presented the cup.
What will you say about the current state of that stadium?
It is an eyesore. The matter is even more than the National Stadium. The matter is a general problem of poor maintenance. We are lagging behind, in terms of facilities which is an important part of sports development. We have money, we waste the money. We construct new project to decay later. It is a cycle in shame. What I saw in Morroco when I led an U-15 team to a championship, was an eye-opener. Morocco has gone so far, in terms of development of sports facilities. There is a deliberate policy which makes sports development a national culture, which they don’t compromise. We had that U-15 championship in Kenitra where sports facilities are sited on 48 acres. We saw strict maintenance; we saw discipline and right attitude to the facilities by all users. No matter how important you may claim to be, you have to abide by the rules under which the facilities are operated and managed.
What then should our government do to our dilapidated facilities?
Government needs to be patriotic first. Love of one’s country must reflect in policies you make and implementation, including response to the policy. But in a situation where everybody does and says what he or she likes over the radio and television, this is the result we will always have. Turning stadia to political arena is an insult to our national integrity. We need to understand that sport is the only cord that joins us; we have seen it that politics, religion and ethnicity have polarised us beyond imagination. So, government should rise up and rescue our sports. Enough of promoting sport at the expense of developing it.
***Interview published on Jan 31, 2026
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