Sports
Albert Onyeanwuna: A Tribute To Soccer Legend
I was holidaying in Port
Harcourt in 1962 when I had the rarest of opportunities to meet the great soccer legend, Albert Onyeanwuna at the Port Harcourt City stadium. This was my second year at the Ibo Union Grammar School, Kano, the elite college which the Igbo merchants of Kano had established and modelled on Britain’s Eton College primarily for their children to attain the highest levels of education in those days. The college was special enough for the Premier of Northern Nigeria the late Sir Ahmadu Bello to send one of his relatives, Sani to attend the college. We were both in Class 2B.
Staying just across the road from the stadium at No. 10 Takoradi Street, Port Harcourt, with my in-law, Francis Uzoenyi, I was not necessarily a soccer addict but as an avid newspaper reader, I knew by their names all the soccer stars of that generation such as Thunder Balogun, Albert Onyeanwuna, Elkanah Onyeali, Dejo Fayemi, Godwin Achebe, Fabian Duru, Augustine Oduah and others. I had never watched a major football match before this one and I was very excited. The Red Devils of NPA, Port Harcourt, was playing ECN of Lagos and the three Onye’s – Onyeador (Green Eagles captain in the early sixties) Onyali and Onyeanwuna were on the team sheet.
The Red Devils were in action and Onyeanwuna scored a brace and the excitement I had was simply too much for me to put up with that I had to write a report of the match and sent it to the Eastern Nigerian Guardian newspaper of Port Harcourt which had its offices close by Takoradi Street on Bathurst Street. I had no inkling that the report would be published until the Monday following the Saturday of the match when the Editor ran the report under my byline Anthony Amadi. It was my first ever printed article and I felt like a million dollars.
Onyeanwuna lived at Lagos Street, Port Harcourt, just a stone throw from my Takoradi Street residence and I used to hang around his No 30 house hoping to see and adore him. A few kids like me used to loiter around as well to see the famous man and he used to honour us with his presence by coming out, his trademark haircut which he wore with a pattern that had a straight line cut on the left side of the massive hair was copied by many soccer buffs in the area.
On the national stage, Onyeanwuna was a sensation and proved a continental threat to defenders of his generation. He always found a way to wriggle through the massed defence, whether it was Lagos teams or international teams clashing with the Nigerian sides that he played for. In the days of the Black Stars of Ghana, Onyeanwuna was probably the only striker that was an antidote to the deadly defenders of the Black Stars. On a major soccer date against the Ghanaians, Lagos used to freeze when they touch down at the Ikeja airport as it was known in those days. They come with their deadly strikers like Agreey Finn, Gyamfi and the rest of them that I cannot remember their names. But Onyeanwuna and the Green Eagles were always going to give a good account of themselves, even though there were days that Ghana gave us a good thrashing.
Looking back, I doubt if Nigeria could ever produce great players like those of that generation. The passion exhibited in those days by players was certainly greater even with the general state of penury that marked the fate of footballers of the fifties and sixties. Onyeanwuna and his generation served Nigeria with more zeal. They still maintained their day jobs at NPA (Nigeria Ports Authority) or ECN (Electricity Corporation of Nigeria) unlike footballers these days that play professionally.
If Onyeanwuna was a British citizen, the premiership we all adore today would hold a series of events in his honour. Matches would not start before at least a one minute silence before is observed in his honour across the country and his name would have become Sir Albert Onyeanwuna MBE (Member of the British Empire).
What is the Federal Minister of Sports, Dr Tamuno Danagogo, waiting to send Onyeanwuna’s name as well as other great footballers that brought immense glory to Nigeria to the National Merit Award for appropriate posthumous honour? What is the Rivers State Government waiting to rename one of the stadiums in Port Harcourt, after Onyeanwuna or at the least, build a monument after Onyeanwuna at No 30 Lagos Street, Port Harcourt or even rename that street after this great man who lived most of his life there in the Garden City to the glory of Nigerian sports.
Thank God that Anambra State is doing something about honouring Onyeanwuna by the string of events penciled down for his burial programme on the 19th of this month at Abatete, his home town by the Action Governor Willie Obiano and his vibrant Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Chief Tony Nnachetta, who is a guru himself in the arena of Nigerian Sports. What makes the new governor tick is simply that he is fixing round pegs in round holes and not placing dummies around him to confuse him the more.
In a News Agency of Nigeria report on September 5, 2014, the Anambra Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Tony Nnacheta, confirmed that the state would immortalise the late football legend, Albert Onyeanwuna, who died on April 22 in Lagos. Nnachetta inaugurated a 15-member burial committee in Awka to plan and execute the burial, and promised that Onyeanwuna would be buried on September 19 at Abatete in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state in recognition of his contribution to Nigerian football. He said the state government had also constituted a 30-man national committee comprising top football personalities across the country, assuring that the late soccer hero would be given a befitting state funeral.
According to the Commissioner, “This is in remembrance of his contributions to the growth and development of the game in Nigeria.” He described the late footballer as an illustrious son of the state, and added that the Anambra State Government would continue to appreciate any son or daughter that brought the state to limelight. He said that burial activities for the football legend would hold in four Nigerian cities — Lagos, Port Harcourt, Awka and Abatete.
He expressed optimism that the events would be hitch-free one of the activities included a novelty football match last Sunday between Lagos All Stars and Lagos SWAN at the Eagle Club, Surulere, Lagos.
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and his Anambra State counterpart were expected to have been part of the match.
Nnacheta said Rivers State football coaches Association would also play a friendly with Port Harcourt ex-professionals at the Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt, tomorrow and the final football match on September 18 would be played at the home town of the legend between Enugu All Stars and Onitsha All Stars, at Notre Dame College pitch, Abatete.
The late Onyeanwuna would lie in state at the Women’s Development Centre, Awka on September 18 and would be laid to rest after a funeral mass at the St. Dominic Catholic Church, Agbaja, Abatete on September 19.
Onyeanwuna was one of the biggest players of his era, a master dribbler who debuted for the Red Devils, as the Nigerian senior football team was then known, on October 30, 1955. He was a member of the Eastern Region’s Spartans Football Club that won the National Golden Cup for keeps in the 60s.
Looking back to the glory years of Nigerian football, it is necessary that sportsmen are given their due recognition for these are the men and women who made Nigeria proud and the reason that Nigeria is today a great country in the comity of nations. In football Onyeanwuna, Onyeali, Onyeador, Thunder Balogun, Dejo Fayemi, living legends like Segun Odegbemi, Christian Chukwu, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Stephen Keshi and the current Eagles sharp shooter, Ahmed Musa must never be forgotten in a hurry.
Footballers mentioned above were never the type that failed to train or threaten boycott because of pecuniary issues. As we mourn the departure of Onyeanwuna, let us hope that the Ministry of Special Duties that compile national honours would not fail to put his name up to be immortalised Onyeanwuna with a major national honouror name one of the stadia that dot the country after this illustrious sone of Nigeria.
May the soul of Albert Onyeanwuna rest in perfect peace.
Amadi writes from Port Harcourt
Late Onyeanwuna
Team Nigeria finished sixth on the overall medals table at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, falling short of the National Sports Commission’s ambitious target after ending the competition with 23 medals, comprising 10 gold, seven silver and six bronze
The tally represents a shortfall against the lofty expectations set before the Games.
Director General of the Commission, Bukola Olopade, had projected that Nigeria could surpass the 18-gold target set by the Elite Athletes Podium Finish initiative to win as many as 22 gold medals, citing structural reforms under NSC chairman Shehu Dikko and backing from President Bola Tinubu.
Nigeria’s confidence had been rooted in its performance at the 2022 Birmingham Games, where the country recorded its most successful outing with 35medals, comprising 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze, to finish seventh overall.
While the final gold count of 10 fell well short of the 22 projected and even the eighteen baseline target, and the overall medal haul of 23 was down on the 35 won in Birmingham, Team Nigeria’s campaign in Glasgow nonetheless produced several standout moments across a broader spread of disciplines than in previous editions, with medals arriving from athletics, judo, weightlifting, para athletics, para powerlifting and swimming.
Samuel Ogazi delivered Nigeria’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold in the men’s 400m, powering to victory in 44.25 seconds, while Ezekiel Nathaniel added another gold in the men’s 400m hurdles in 48.47 seconds. Chukwuebuka Enekwechi became the first Nigerian to win the men’s shot put title at the Games with a throw of 21.07m, and further medals came from Ella Onojuvwevwo, who claimed bronze in the women’s 400m to end a wait dating back to 1994, Ruth Usoro, who won silver in the long jump, Udodi Onwuzurike, who took silver in the men’s 200m, and Kayinsola Ajayi, whose bronze in the men’s 100m ended a twenty-year wait for Nigeria in the event. The men’s 4x100m relay team and the mixed 4x400m relay quartet both closed out the athletics programme with bronze medals, while the women’s 4x100m team finished sixth.
Beyond the track, Enku Ekuta ended a 24-year wait for a Nigerian judo medal at the Commonwealth Games with bronze in the women’s -63kg category, a result hailed as one of the most symbolic achievements of the campaign given the sport’s long struggle to convert domestic talent into podium finishes.
The Commission had sought to keep morale high throughout the Games with an enhanced welfare package.
NSC chairman Shehu Dikko had announced an upward review of bonuses partway through the competition, raising the reward for gold medallists to 10,000 dollars, comprising 5,000 dollars in instant cash and 5,000 dollars paid directly into their accounts, up from an initial structure of 8,000 dollars. Silver medallists received 5,000 dollars, made up of 2,000 dollars in instant cash and 3,000 dollars paid into their accounts, while bronze medallists received 3,000 dollars, comprising 1,000 dollars in instant cash and 2,000 dollars paid into their accounts.
Coaches whose athletes won gold were also entitled to a 5,000-dollar incentive, on top of daily allowances of 200 dollars for athletes and 250 dollars for coaches.
Despite the increased incentives and the individual milestones recorded across several disciplines, Team Nigeria’s sixth-place finish and gold medal count leave the Commission short of the record-breaking outing it had targeted before the Games, setting up questions for officials over preparation and investment as the country looks ahead to future global multi-sport events.
Nigerian professional wrestler, Oba Femi, defeated former UFC and WWE champion, Brock Lesnar, in a brutal Hell in a Cell match at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday night, earning one of the biggest victories of his career.
The contest, held at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, saw the Lagos-born wrestler overcome Lesnar in his first-ever Hell in a Cell appearance.
Femi took the fight to Lesnar from the opening bell, surviving multiple German suplexes, a Tombstone onto exposed wooden boards beneath the ring and several attacks with steel steps before countering with two chokeslams.
The match reached its climax after Lesnar attempted to use a steel chair, but Femi knocked it from his grip with a stiff right hand before delivering his signature Fall From Grace to secure the victory.
Following the bout, Lesnar embraced Femi, took a microphone and publicly endorsed the Nigerian star.
Declaring himself the past and Femi the future of WWE, Lesnar praised his opponent in front of the SummerSlam crowd.
Reacting to the moment, Femi admitted he did not expect the show of respect from his longtime rival.
“The hug and public endorsement was definitely a shock, and I didn’t see that coming.
“I know that deep down, Brock has always respected me, and he knows that deep down, I respect him as well,” Femi said.
The victory continues an impressive breakthrough year for the Nigerian wrestler, who defeated Lesnar at WrestleMania 42 in April before winning the 2026 King of the Ring tournament in June.
Their SummerSlam clash was the culmination of a months-long rivalry that saw Lesnar return from an apparent retirement to attack Femi before defeating him in a rematch at Clash in Italy.
South Africa national team head coach Hugo Broos has left his position after five years in charge, with South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan confirming the Belgian’s departure at the weekend.
Broos’ contract officially expired last Friday, bringing an end to his tenure, which began in May 2021 after Bafana Bafana failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 74-year-old coach leaves behind a period that included several notable achievements for South Africa.
Under Broos, Bafana Bafana finished third at the 2023 AFCON, which was eventually staged in early 2024 in Ivory Coast after being postponed.
He also guided the team to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, marking South Africa’s first appearance beyond the group stage at the tournament.
The qualification itself ended a 24-year wait for Bafana Bafana, who had last featured at the World Cup in 2010 as hosts. Their 2026 appearance was their first since that tournament.
Broos had previously indicated that his departure from the national team was settled.
Speaking to the media after the World Cup, Broos said his decision to leave the Bafana Bafana job was irreversible, citing his desire to spend more time with his family. However, he also
expressed a willingness to take up another position within SAFA.
His comments sparked uncertainty, with SAFA initially releasing a statement denying that Broos had already stepped down.
Further speculation followed when reports emerged that the coach had been offered a one-year contract extension. SAFA subsequently issued another statement insisting that no extension had been finalised.