She started running bare-footed for St. Ita's Girls Grammar School, Sapele, Delta State, in the late 1980s and grew to become one of Nigeria's most accomplished sprinters of her time. That, in brief, is the simple sum of the emergence and accomplishment of queen of the tracks, Endurance Ojokolo, who began her elementary education at Ugherevie Primary School, Sapele, and later Ethiope Primary School, Okirighwre. At St. Ita's, her sports career blossomed. All through her post-elementary education at St. Ita's, Ojokolo was adored at Sapele and its environs, where she was the toast of many athletics lovers following the way she conquered fellow sprinters in other notable schools as St. Malachy, Chude Girls Grammar School, Okotie Eboh, Urhiapele, Ufuoma Mixed Secondary School, Zik Grammar School and Amukpe Grammar School. Though an all-rounder on the track, her main specialties were the 100 and 200 metres sprint.From Sapele, Ojokolo broke into the then Bendel State athletics team to the 1990 All Nigerian School Sports Festival held in Kano, though she was on the reserve bench. Her chance came in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the following year, when she finished behind compatriot Calista Uba, in the 100 metres. That was the beginning of her rise to stardom. Her exploits in Port Harcourt paved way for her invitation to Afuze Games Village, where the Bendel State contingent camped preparing for Bauchi '91 National Sports Festival. She eventually made it to Bauchi and returned home with a gold and two silver medals. That was after winning several medals for St. Ita's at invitational races in Sapele, Warri, Oghara, Abraka, Isiokolo, Ughelli and environs.As a national athlete, Ojokolo left her footprint on the sand of time. She made the Mobil Athletics Championship a no-go area to some other notable athletes from 1997 to 2005. Perhaps, apart from former African queen of the track, Mary Onyali, no other female athlete dominated the Mobil Championship as she did. At the 1997 edition of the championship in Lagos, when she was relatively new on the scene, she caused a big stir by beating established stars like Onyali, Faith Idenhen, Chioma Ajunwa and others to 100 metres title, a feat she repeated on two other occasions.She was off the scene in the 2000 season on maternity break, but came back to rule the track from 2001 to 2005. A back injury almost ended her career after she represented Nigeria at the 1994 World Junior Championship in Lisbon, Portugal. She did not regain full fitness until 1997 when she, alongside Ajunwa, flew Nigeria's flag high at the Paris '97 World Indoor Championship.She also won 100 metres gold for Nigeria at the 2003 Afro-Asia Championship held in India after losing it to Onyali at Abuja 2003 COJA Games. Now a national coach and currently in Team Nigeria's athletics camp in Port Harcourt preparing some home-based athletes for the London Olympics, Ojokolo narrates the story of her life in this interview with GOWON AKPODONOR, saying that the discipline she learnt in primary and grammar schools in Sapele as well as her time with the Nigerian athletics team shaped her life.NO doubt, the former African athletics queen belonged in the golden and nostalgic era when Nigerian athletics was a force to reckon with in Africa and the world. That was when the National Stadium, Lagos, was the Mecca of sports in Nigeria. Fondly called The Bulldozer by her admirers, the Sapele girl started her sports career at Ugherevie Primary School (1982-85) and later at Ethiope Primary School, Okirighwre, (1985-87).As a teenager, Ojokolo fell in love with track and field events, though her mother, Rose Ojokolo, was not in support: 'I did all kinds of athletics events when I started at Ugherevie,' she said during the third leg of the AFN/NDDC Golden League at the Federal University of Technology (FUTA), Akure, last week. 'I was running the 100, 200 as well as the 4x100 metres for the school during our inter-house sports competition. I was also representing the school in both the long and high jumps; at times I threw javelin.'In those early days, most Nigerian parents would do everything possible to prevent their children from associating with sports. Ojokolo's mother was one of those convinced that sports would make her daughter become too muscular and as such, would scare men from extending their hands of marriage to her.She recalled: 'When I started, my father was in support but my mother said no way. Then, some amebo (gossips) would come to our house in Sapele to tell my mother to stop me from running, saying that female athletes usually found it difficult bearing children. They will tell her all sorts of things. Some would say 'your daughter would grow too muscular and no man would be interested in marrying her.' But with the encouragement from my dad, I was able to push on even though my mother was always against it.'Upon completing elementary education in 1987, Ojokolo got admission into the famous St. Ita's Girls Grammar School, Sapele, in 1988. Here, her passion for athletics increased, as she revealed: 'At the time I started secondary school at St. Ita's, Sapele was still under Okpe Local Council Area in the then Bendel State. There were inter-zonal school competitions and I was always selected to run for St. Ita's athletics team whenever we had invitation from other schools within and outside Sapele town.'Then, Sapele was even more popular than the city of Warri because of the presence of many Europeans. There were so many companies like AT&P, Salt Factory, Flower and Mill and many others flourishing in the town.'The presence of some of the white men during our inter-house sports competitions added so much glamour to it and at the same time gave me the determination and courage to do more. Gradually, my mother began to show interest in my athletics career when I started winning medals both at St. Ita's and other invitational inter-house sports competitions.'Ojokolo's exploits at St. Ita's soon spread to Benin City where some officials of the then Bendel State Sports Council were delegated to travel to Sapele to watch her during one of the school's inter-house sports. She did not disappoint. According to her, 'at that time, preparation was in top gear for the Bendel State School Sports Festival ahead the 1988 National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt. I couldn't make it from the zone because I lost to Gloria Kemasuode in both the 100 and 200 metres events.'Even in 1989, I lost again to Kemasuode in our zone, but in 1990 I made it to the state level and went on to represent Bendel the following year (1991) at the National Sports Festival in Bauchi. The festival was marred by religious violence and at the end, Bendel, Rivers and Ondo zones finished top. I was beaten in the 100 and 200 metres by Calista Uba, but I was part of the relay team that won the 4x100 metre gold.'She further recalled her first day in the Bendel State team's camp in 1988: 'Then, I was running bare-footed, but I used to beat those athletes wearing spikes and it became the talk of the town. There was a particular day I was invited for trial at the Ogbe Stadiun in Benin City and Gladstone Agbamu was one of the officials present.'He was shocked at my performance in the 100 and 200 metres races and immediately ordered for a spike shoe for me. The shoe wasn't my size and he then told one male athlete, Ambrose Monye, a 400 metres runner, to give me his spike shoe. That, too, was too heavy for me, but I managed to complete the race. But from then, I started using spikes during competitions.'Ojokolo was still a student of St. Ita's Grammar School when she helped Bendel State to win the Bauchi '91 National Sports Festival. Then, it was not an easy task for a student to get employed by the Bendel State Sports Council, so she and some other athletes were placed on N70 monthly allowance.'The amount (N70) may be small but it was very useful to us at that time because it helped to take care of some basic needs in school. In that same 1991, Delta State was created and so many of us were given Level 6 Step 4. By the time Edo State Sports Council came up with its employment letter, it was too late. That was how I began my journey as a programmed athlete with Delta State in 1991.'Ojokolo was representing Delta State and at the same time competing for the country in international athletics competitions. She forced many athletes into retirement by turning the Mobil Track and Field 100 and 200 metres into her personal property, winning it about nine times. She was one of only two women in the tourney's history to win the 100 metres gold three consecutive times. Until recently, the Mobil Championship served as trial for athletes represent Nigeria at such big championships as the All Africa Games, Athletics World Cup, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.At the 1997 edition of the Mobil Track and Field Championship, Ojokolo, who was relatively new, created a big scene in Lagos when she beat established stars like Mary Onyali, Faith Idenhen, Chioma Ajunwa and others to the title, a feat she repeated on two other occasions. That same year, she came fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Paris, France, ran a personal best of 11.08 seconds in the 100 metres in Dakar in 1998 and 23.09 in 200 metres in 1999.She came seventh with a time of 7.19 seconds in the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, in 1999 and eighth in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001 with a time of 7.23. In the 100 metres at Tunisia 2002 African Championship, she was first, second behind Onyali at Abuja 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja, first at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games at Hyderabad, India, and third at the 2006 World Cup in Athens, Greece. Ojokolo's last appearance for Nigeria was the 4x100 metres relay first position at the 2008 African Athletics Championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.But for Ojokolo, the most memorable moment in her athletics career was her performance at the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton, Canada. After wrestling the Mobil Championship 100 metres title from the likes of Onyali, Idenhen and Ajunwa from 1997 to 1999, she staged a return to the tracks in 2001 and won the Mobil Championship, which qualified her to the World Championships in Edmonton.In Canada, Ojokolo shook the world by running her season's best in 11.13 seconds. She noted: 'It was my best moment ever because after giving birth to a baby, I had to struggle and struggle to be feet again. I couldn't believe my eyes when I finished the race in Edmonton.'In an age when it was fashionable for many athletes to dump Nigeria for countries like Spain, Portugal, Germany and even Greece, Ojokolo rejected all overtures from the British athletics governing body to run for England. It would be recalled that sprinter Gloria Alozie dumped Nigeria for Spain at about the same time, just as Francis Obikwelu was lost to Portugal. In the same way, wrestler Daniel Igali dumped Nigeria for Canada.Nevertheless, 'I refused to listen to overtures from the British Athletics Federation for me to run for England because I felt it against my dream. Nigeria is my country and it remains my country. I also considered the future because I didn't want a situation whereby a country would use me and dump me later. I am not blaming those that took the offer, but for me, I didn't want.'Looking back to her school days in Sapele, Ojokolo, who has an IAAF coaching certificate, said: 'Then school sports enjoyed the best of followership in every part of the country. There was the U-13 athletics team in Bendel State as well as the U-15 team. Then, running for your school team during inter-house sports competitions was like competing in a world championship. I just hope and pray that one day our school sports will return to those glorious days.
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