For Flying Eagles' former star, Paul Okoku, sports, particularly football, is an invaluable asset. From St. Paul's Primary School in Lagos Mainland, Okoku took to active involvement in table tennis, athletics, boxing and football, but it was through the round leather game that he was able to acquire enriching education. At St Finbarr's College, Akoka, he was part of the team that made it twice to the semi-final stage of the prestigious Lagos Principal's Cup. The former vice-captain of the first Nigerian team to qualify for FIFA-organised World Cup told OLALEKAN OKUSAN that despite his deep interest in football, he never took his education with levity, as he used sports as a means to an end. So he advised budding athletes that, good as sports may be in bringing success, the height of fame and wealth minus education weighs in with a depth of emptiness and inferiority. Even so, without education one might become irrelevant after quitting sports.AT an early age, Okoku's interest in sports saw him hook on to four events, but his passion for football surpassed that for others such that during his elementary school, he made the team in year three. It all started this way: 'Like many boys of my generation, from a very early age I played football on the streets. This was before I started primary school.'We could not afford a real soccer ball, so we improvised with oranges. I also played with hard plastic balls (in the absence of real soccer balls) but they hurt, so I just dribbled rather than shoot with them. Then came the era of felele (soft rubber balls) that most of the used. At that time, sports for me was a personal interest because I took part in events like athletics, football, table tennis and boxing, but so many people encouraged me to continue with football and that was where my interest lied.'I participated in football and athletics in school. Even though I always came third or fourth in athletics, I still liked to participate because it kept my mind at ease. In my elementary school at St Paul's Primary School on Apapa Road, we had a trial where they wanted to pick the school team and I was then in class three, but I had been playing with people in class five. It was during the trial that I made the school team.'At that time, there was rivalry between St Paul's and Ebenezer Primary School, which shared a building. For Okoku, Ebenezer, which had the likes of Stephen Keshi and Christopher Anigala, was a torn in the flesh of St Paul's in football: 'We used to take part in an inter-school competition for primary schools in Lagos and I could remember that when I was in class four, we got to the final of the competition.'On Apapa Road, we had a school called Ebenezer Primary School that was sharing our building and they had players late Christopher Anigala and Stephen Keshi. They were our big rivals, but most times we used to beat them.'Even as a student, Okoku was also playing for a local team called Greater Tomorrow at the National Stadium, which had the likes of Henry Nwosu. The club took part in various competitions within the state in the 1970s. Also in his neighbourhood in Olaleye Village, Lagos Island, lived African table tennis champion, Sunday Eboh, as well as national football star, Godwin Odinye, and Okoku was so attracted to these athletes that he became involved in table tennis also.He recalled: 'Aside playing for my school, I was also featuring for Greater Tomorrow at the National Stadium and we had Henry Nwosu in the team. Our experience and exposure with the club made it very easy to get admission into secondary school in Lagos. Sometimes we only need to juggle the ball to see how long we can keep it in the air for us to be offered admission into any school.'At some point, I was very involved in table tennis and at Rowe Park I played competitively, representing Lagos Mainland. At a point, I was in a fix whether to continue with football or table tennis. Then we had a big table tennis player, Sunday Eboh, who lived in my neighborhood and was also the African champion. There was also Godwin Odinye, who was a national player also and lived in the neigbhourhood called Olaleye Village.'At that time, I was also interested in boxing because Nigeria had employed the late Archie Moore, who fought against Mohammed Ali. It was at that time that sports administrators actually had personal interest in the developmental programme for the youths. They went further to engage the world-acclaimed boxers like Moore to train young boxers, which I was going to be part of, but football took me away. Most of my colleagues embraced boxing but I took to football.'After graduating from St Paul's, Okoku gained admission to Zumrat Islamiyah, where he quickly broke into the school team: 'My football prowess and academics helped me to gain admission to Zumrat Islamiyah because at that time you had to combine the two. My interest then was not just to play football, but I was very interested in my education as well because I wondered at that very young age what I would depend on after my football career.'You cannot play football forever and that is the mistake some of the young players are making nowadays. In my time, most of us knew that at some point we were going to progress beyond football. So we used football as a means to an end but today, players use it as an end instead.'At Zumrat, the recitation of Surat Fathia most times inspired us before every match despite being a Catholic. We had Lajide Thomas as our coach and Sunday Edema Benson as captain. I made the school team in my second year and played in the Principal's Cup, where we were knocked out in the quarter-finals by a mediocre school. It was one of our strikers called Adeleke who missed so many scoring chances that made us lose, and for over three weeks, Adeleke could not come to school. The students were so infuriated that we were afraid after the match.'For Okoku, playing in the prestigious Principal's Cup was like taking part in the Africa Nations Cup, as teams keenly contested in the tournament. However, when Zumrat was relocated to Ikorodu, Okoku had to change school and it was not too long for him to get another. According to him, 'when I was in class two, Zumrat was relocating to Ikorodu and being a Lagos boy, I chose to remain and had to go to St. Finbarr's, where I met the coach, Malago.'At that time I did not realize the name I had made for myself because of Greater Tomorrow. So they asked me to join them at St. Finbarr's and told me the day of their trial. I went, but Malago did not want me to participate in the trial. After the trial, we went for lunch and the next thing he told me was to get the school uniform. So I did not take part in the trial before joining the school.'On his worst moment in school, he said: 'I am tempted to name CMS Grammar School, 'the Bariga Bombers,' (as my worst opponents) for they defeated us in the semi-finals two consecutive years. On the other hand, I have to say it was against Trinity College. They were supposed to be a mediocre team and almost defeated us. That would have made the news as one of the greatest upsets in school sports history because we paraded celebrated superstars of school sports in our team.'Players like the late Chris Anigala, Stephen Keshi, Patrick Obitor, Sunday Joseph and Dennis Echefu and myself were there. However, we won on penalties after a full time goalless draw. I saw our students and non-students supporters alike lamenting, fearing for our defeat.'Meanwhile, combining education and sports was made possible by his coaches in schools: 'I was a student-footballer. Americans would call it student-athlete. So were most footballers I knew in my generation, which is contrary to the popular belief that footballers are illiterates, scallywag or dropouts. Education came first for us.'In my own case, school classes came before football practice; our coaches ensured that. They never left me out of the team or castigated me when I missed classes to attend lectures. Fortunately, when I was a student, my coaches were men who valued education. They included Dan Ajibode, Mike Malagu, Kashimawo Laloko, Alexander Lasisi, Lajide Thomas and Femi Siwoku.'During my Greater Tomorrow era, 95 per cent of us were students. Those who were not students later enrolled in schools due to peer pressure from us. Peer pressure can be a good thing if it is positive. I am just so pleased to have decided at that very young age that I was going to use football as a means to an end, and not an end in itself.'Those were trying times, as parents, friends and family members, irrespective of the fame we achieved or honour we brought to the nation, criticized us. Most parents, then, strongly discouraged their children from associating themselves with us because they thought we were not educationally inclined. Nevertheless, most of us had educational aspirations that were overshadowed by our exploits in football.'And St Finbarr's was a blessing to him, too: 'Attending St. Finbarr's College was truly a blessing as it provided me the opportunity to play for a reputable school during the Principal's Cup and compete academically with the children of the rich and famous, whose dads were lawyers, governors and doctors, among others.'The experience made me better academically, no doubt about that! Then, we had many prominent Nigerians whose children attended the school. Our principal, Mr. Kpotie, did not care if you were as talented as Pele or Maradona, you must pass your exams to gain promotion to the next class.'After finishing from St Finbarr's, Okoku got many offers for admission from various universities in Nigeria but he was keen to further his studies abroad. However, this did not come to fruition until after three years that he got admission to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University in the United States.Okoku's first sojourn in the national team was in 1979 but his academics clogged that. He said: 'Keshi and I were first invited to the national team in 1979 and we were in class four. I was invited to the Flying Eagles by late coach Udemezue and I went to meet him to thank him for the invitation and to also inform him that I would not be joining the team because I wanted to concentrate on my academics. So I did not join the team then.'In 1980 the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) invited to its team and I chose to play for YSFON because we were not in camp. So there was nothing depriving me of my studies and that was how I became YSFON player. We travelled all over the world and won the 1980 Gothia Cup in Sweden. My team-mates then were Taju Disu, Tarila Okorowanta, late Aliu Kadiri, Alphonsus Akahon and Patrick Udoh, among others.'I finished at St. Finbarr's in 1981 and got back to the Flying Eagles in 1980 after winning the Gothia Cup. In 1981, the national Team B was formed to serve as feeder to the Green Eagles. In the main Green Eagles, we had the likes of Segun and it was from the feeder team that Keshi made the Green Eagles, as he was also captain of Team B tutored by former coach of Julius Berger, Gola.'In 1983, Okoku became the vice-captain of the Flying Eagles, which was the first Nigerian team to qualify for a FIFA-organised World Cup at the U-20 World Cup in Mexico. The former Lagos Commissioner for Education, Adeniran Ogunsanya, awarded him a scholarship to university level and he was also a recipientof Federal Government of Nigeria scholarship to university level and anywhere in the world.On the gains of sports, Okoku said: 'My involvement in organised sports at a young age helped build a lifetime of health habits that are physically and emotionally beneficial to me. Participation in sports taught me valuable life lessons. I was able to learn my strengths and talents, which led me to a life-long passion or occupation choice.'As a child, I loved to participate in sports, and that contributed to my emotional wellbeing as well as physical development. I also learnt to be disciplined because there were rules to follow. Learning to do extremely well in any game depended on how well I followed the rules. Additionally, being part of a team meant that my team-mates depended on me to show up for practices and for games, which translated to on-the-field victories.'Socially, doing my part, as a member of a team, was one of the reasons I enjoyed playing football. I also learnt that while there are different skill levels among team members, working together as a team makes everyone shine. Learning to get along with a team-mates at that early age did more to prepare me for group projects at work, to be concerned with finding solution to problems collectively instead of seeking personal or individual advantage, glory or credit.'Team sports prepared me for community involvement and civic mindedness. I got in less trouble as a kid because I was out of the streets playing football or table tennis, and I can attribute my success and achievements in the workplace to sports.
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