How NFF Can Turn NIGERIA’s Football Around

•Ex-Super Eagles Player, TAJU DISU

Not too many young Nigerian football fans will be excited at the mention of the name Tajudeen Disu, but the older ones will definitely remember him and his contemporaries with relish. He was part of that hugely talented and historic 1983 Flying Eagles team that went down in our history books as the first Nigerian team to qualify for any FIFA organized tournament. They represented the country at the 1983 Under-20 Junior world cup held in Mexico. If you are looking for the first Nigeria national team to raise the country’s flag at a FIFA World Cup competition, it was this team.

And Tajudeen Disu, nicknamed ‘Ghadaffi’ was an integral part of that team. He was, at the time, one of the finest and most efficient defenders to come out of Africa. Disu was a delight to watch. For a defender he was intelligent and skillful on the ball which was why many respected him a great deal. He and his teammates dazzled at the competition, showcasing to the world for the first time the exquisite football skills of Nigerian footballers.

Today, Tajudeen Disu, who has spent the better part of the last two decades living and coaching in the United States, is retired from football and has done quite well, coming back home to help revive the dwindling fortunes of Nigerian football. Currently, Taju Disu is the Chairman of Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) Lagos State and former Abiola Babes Captain. He started his football career from Ansar’deen Primary School, Lawanson Lagos and St Timothy’s College Yaba. Disu represented Lagos State in the National Sports Festival at Oluyole 79’ and Bendel 81.

He was member of the Flying Eagles team that played in FIFA World Cup in Mexico and later Super Eagles. At the moment, he is the Supervisory Counselor for Agriculture, Youths, Sport and Social Development in the Surulere Local Government.

Last week, City People’s Senior Editor, WALE LAWAL (08037209290) had a chat with the retired Nigerian international and he took us back to his days as a former footballer and also shared his concerns about the current state of football in Nigeria.

You are one of those ex-players who sacrificed your all and wore the national jersey with pride back in the day. Tell us about your time and who were your flying Eagles set of 1983?

Thank you very much. I think I am one of the luckiest players of that era. My set, the 1983 Flying Eagles, was the first team that first to raise Nigeria’s flag in any FIFA tournament. When the set of Henry Nwosu, Stephen Keshi and the likes tried to do it, it was Cameroon that shocked them here, so our set was next. By the grace of God, we made the country proud by qualifying as African champions. Ivory Coast came second, so we qualified for the FIFA Junior World Cup in Mexico. We participated in the tournament, did our best and came back home.

But were you guys able to graduate into the senior team?

Majority of us graduated to the senior national team in 1984, played the Nations Cup in 1984 and went as far as the finals to Cameroon. After that, I moved to the Abiola Babes in 1984 and played in four consecutive FA Cup finals, that’s, 84, 85, 86, 87. After coming back from Mexico in 1983, at that time I was in Leventis United, Ibadan. I left National Bank here in Lagos, myself, Paul Okoku, Segun Olukanmi and a couple of others, we were in the National Bank then before we joined t6he Flying Eagles. We went to Mexico, came back, so myself, Yemi Adebanjo, Paul Okoku, we moved to National Bank.

Why I said I am one of the luckiest players at that time is that, back then, we promised the government that we will qualify and the government in return said anything we want, they would and most of us opted for scholarship. They also made a lot of other empty promises but when we qualified, nothing happened. After a couple of years, when we found that the government was not prepared to do anything for us, we started writing to some of the schools in the United States that we played against when we were in YSFON and their coaches took note of us.

Which of t6he competitions did you represent Nigeria?

We represented Nigeria then in the Dallas Cup which we won. We were there via YSFON and the tournament took place in Dallas, USA. And American University coaches came for us but because we were still doing our A-Levels at that time, we couldn’t have any negotiations with them. So, now, we started writing them and that was how, one by one, they started asking us to come over to the United States. I tell you, about eighty percent of that set went to America. Some of my other colleagues went to UK. So, majority of us till tomorrow are still in America. That’s why I told you that my wife and kids are in America, it was as a result of that opportunity. Till today, I am still in touch with many of my colleagues. We talk regularly. When some of them are in town, they come to the council to say hello to the chairman. I’m still in touch with about eighty percent of them. We play All Stars, like IICC All Stars, Rangers All Stars, and this brings us together, we play football, have fun and enjoy ourselves.

How do you think we can revive Nigeria’s football, I’m sure that as an Ex-international, you cannot be happy with the way things are at the moment?

Of course, I am not happy. Things have really changed. Back then, we had football administrators who cared about the game. But these days, things are not quite like that. It is time we start bringing the right people to run our football. What we have now is that we have simply put round pegs in square holes. It cannot work like that. We must start to bring back our ex internationals and make some of them administrators of our football. We no longer encourage grass root football.

 We are killing our football every day by appointing people who know next to nothing about football to oversee the affairs of footballers. If we want our football to rise again, age grade competitions must be revived across the country. Honest, sincere administrators who are knowledgeable about the game should be put in significant positions otherwise we will only keep going round in circles.