Super Eagles former midfielder, Edema Fuludu, went through the complete training grill in football and when he eventually arrived in the mid 80s, he was ready for the challenges ahead. From Pessu Primary School, Warri, in 1971, to his post-elementary education at the College of Commerce, also in Warri in 1983, down to the University of Benin, where he became the first junior student to captain the football team, Fuludu ate and drank football. He was one of those who made school soccer, especially the Principals Cup, a delight to watch in Warri in the mid 80s, though the big boys at Hussey College and Urhobo College (College of Commerce) did not give him a breathing space. With his mesmerising skill, however, the young Fuludu was able to break even, forcing the management of the defunct New Nigeria Bank FC, Flash Flamingoes and Union Bank FC to fall on one another in their bid to have him. From Benin, he crossed to BCC Lions of Gboko and later Julius Berger FC of Lagos. He played for the Super Eagles under Dutch coach Clemens Westerhof from 1991 to 1995, winning gold at the Tunisia 94 Africa Cup of Nations. He later took his trade to Altay Sports Club in Turkey and further trained as coach at the famous KNVB Institute in Holland. Now the director of football with Warri Wolves FC, he spoke with GOWON AKPODONOR on his activities as a schoolboy in Warri and UNIBEN, which laid a solid foundation for his life.FOR 46-year old Fuludu, a life without solid sports background would have been miserable. Born in the riverine area of Burutu in Delta State, Fuludu grew up in Warri, where he had early contact with the round leather game. He began elementary education in what is today called Pessu Primary School. As at 1977 in College of Commerce, the young Fuludu had garnered some tricks in football and was able to build on it.At the primary school level, football was my major sport and as a kid, I was playing street games with friends, he explained. I was a good player and whenever I played, people usually clapped and hailed me. They would say this is one good player. I represented my primary school mainly in football because other sports like athletics, judo, boxing and swimming did not interest me.I like them but I never participated in them. In my primary school days, my fathers tenant, Mr. Godfrey Okpulor, said landlord, this your son is going to play for Nigeria. That was way back in the mid 70s and it was prophetic.At the time Fuludu gained admission into College of Commerce, the school was not a force to reckon with in football in Warri and its environs. He recalled: As at the time I entered the secondary school, many of my classmates were mainly interested in high jump and other events, but I decided to stay with football. There was one particular evening during our preparation for inter-house sports that we went for training.While others were doing long jump, athletics and swimming, I just took myself to the corner where they were playing football. I dribbled the whole team of seven players in this small-sided game and scored and everybody was amazed. Suddenly, Godwin Dundi of the old Bendel Insurance came to me and asked where I was from. George Ebojor accompanied him. I told him I am from Warri and he said immediately that I should be drafted to the colleges U-13 team, and I remained there for one year.As soon as he made it to class two, he was quickly elevated to the senior team because of his skills and he went on to represent the football team till his final year. With his dribbling skill, the games master was able to raise a formidable soccer squad preparatory to the 1979 edition of the Principals Cup. He said: I played in the Principles Cup and we defeated Ogidigben Grammar School and Essi College, Warri, on our way to the quarter-final and I played a vital role in the victories.We were knocked out by Hussey College, but many people were satisfied with our fighting spirit because at that time, Hussey College and Urhobo College were the power houses in the Principles Cup. Our college was not in the same class with them because they had quality players. Even though we lost, we made our mark and the school authority was satisfied. It was then I realised I had talent in football and told myself that I needed to do more.Fuludu gained admission into the University of Benin in 1983 to read Business Administration. It was at UNIBEN that his football career blossomed. From 1983 to1987, he played what he termed full-time big football. He continued: When I gained admission to UNIBEN to study Business Administration, I had to go the extra mile in making sure that I coped in my studies because I was coming from a school that was not a federal college. I knew it was going to be tedious, so I decided to face my book very well and not play football. More so, I am not from a rich home.In line with destiny, however, a big surprise awaited him in the field of soccer. One evening, he took a walk and at the back of the school hostel, he heard people shouting. He said: I was just sitting alone and as a young man with football flowing in my vein, I was curious to know what was going on. I went behind the hostel and saw people playing football. I joined them and what happened in my secondary school days, when I dribbled many players to score a goal, repeated itself. That incident took place at the Ekenwan Campus in 1983.And then Israel Akporero, who was reading Political Science in UNIBEN, walked up and said to me, you must be a Warri boy. You must play for the school team. My reply was that I was busy with my studies. I remember telling him that I had not done my first semester examination let alone play for the school term. But he kept pestering me.One day, he took me to our main campus at Ugbowo and I trained with the school team. I played for 15 minutes and said I was tied. I told them I was not going to continue. The whole game stopped. The late Ogidi Ibeabuchi, who was doing his Physical Health Education programme at UNIBEN at that time, was around watching the training. Coach of the school football team, Godwin Izilien, was not available, but the team manager, Eddy Mojo, was around watching. Mojo is now the human resources manager of Koloko.Both Ibeabuchi and Mojo said I had to train with the school team. I told them it would be difficult for me to be coming from Ekenwan Campus to train at Ugbowo everyday. They took me to the director of sports and immediately, I was given a whole set of provision. After that, I was inducted into the school team.That was the beginning of Fuludus journey to stardom. Few days after, Auchi Polytechnic came to Ugbowo for a football match, which was part of the monthly games between the two institutions. Nevertheless, coach Izilien refused to include Fuludu in his team since he had not seen him train with the team before. In fairness to the coach, I trained only once with the team and he was not even around on that day.Izilien said he was a trained coach and could not put a man he had not seen in training in the match. So they said to him, coach, let him be on the bench. The game started and Auchi Poly was giving us a hell of problem right there at Ugbowo Campus. I was brought in to replace someone and that was the magic. We won 2-0 and from that moment, I became famous in the school.It was like opening the floodgate for Fuludus soccer career, as all football clubs in Benin City - New Nigeria Bank, Flash Flamingoes and Bendel Insurance clamoured for his services. Izilien took him to Union Bank and he was immediately placed on a N50 per month allowance. He disclosed: I became a big student on campus because N45 gave me meal ticket a whole month and I told my father not to worry about meal ticket any longer. Apart from the N50 allowance, I also got N10 as bonus for every match the club won. I trained once with the school when there was a game with Union Bank FC.Even though he was combining his studies at UNIBEN with football at Union Bank, Fuludu emerged the highest goal soccer in Bendel State at the end of the 1985 state league. Also, Union Bank qualified for the National League, but the management of the bank backed out, preferring to play in the lower rank. He added: I was shocked when Union Bank said it was not interested in sponsoring football at that level, so they decided that they were going to sponsor golf.In no time, the management of New Nigeria Bank came for his services and placed Fuludu on annual take-home of N7, 200. It means the UNIBEN undergraduate would be earning N300 monthly. The news of his achievement soon spread around the campus, just as his supporters increased in number. Fuludu became the most-sort after student there, though he never allowed his success in football to overshadow his academic work.He was made UNIBEN captain and he led the team to the 1984 NUGA Games held at Ile-Ife, where they got bronze. Two years later, he captained the team to another bronze at the NUGA Games held in Ibadan. He said: I was the first person to captain UNIBEN football team in my second year. Usually, it used to be final year students that captain the soccer team. It goes to show that I had some potential. I was doing well and I was carrying my team-mates along and they all loved me.At the time I was graduating, I already had a second class upper and people were amazed. For them, it was a big surprise to see a student playing football day and night make a second class upper. I was voted sportsman of the year 1986 and given scholarship for one year in UNIBEN and I left the university a fulfilled student.With school activities over, Fuludu settled for his soccer trade at New Nigeria Bank (NNB) and helped the club to qualify for the West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup in 1987. The NNB players were called Italians then in the National League because of their all-conquering attributes, as Italy was then one of the best football teams in the world.In that edition of the WAFU Cup, NNB bulldozed its way to the final, beating Asec Mimosas of Cote dIvoire, which had in its fold two great Nigerian players, Henry Nwosu and Tarila Okorowanta. The Benin outfit was defeated in the final. Fuludus performance with NNB prompted coach Paul Hamilton, who was then coach of the Super Eagles, to call him up to the team in 1988.He spoke further: I was very young going to the national team but it was a big deal for me and I trained with them for a couple of times before I left. Before this time, the management of NNB had committed one big blunder and the team had been relegated. But soon after, the management of NNPC FC of Warri came for me.He was with NNPC for one year and did well. He left NNPC for Benue Cement Company (BCC) Lions of Gboko, which was then under the leadership of coach Shaibu Amodu. At BCC Lions, which was well funded at that time, Fuludu marshalled the midfield, picking regular shirt ahead his contemporaries like Luis Igwilo, Toyin Ayinla, Moses Kpakor and Terfa Kpakor. He stayed with BCC Lions for two years and was part of the squad that won the Mandela Cup in 1990.In 1991, he and the gang defended the title till the final, where they lost 1-2 to a club from Zambia. By this time, professional football in Nigeria had started and he felt it was time to seek better package. His next port of call was construction giant, Julius Berger FC, which was then one of the money-bag clubs in the country under the leadership of late Daniel Idama.He was quickly registered to play in the African Champion of Champions League in 1992. In one of their matches, Fuludu scored one of the best goals against Diables Noir Red Devils of Congo at the Lagos National Stadium in Surulere. He recalled: The former NTA sports commentator, Mainasara Ilo, described the goal as the best ever in the National Stadium because I was able to dribble two defenders, the goalkeeper and walked into the net. I didnt know how it happened, but I just did it. It was one of the most memorable games I played at club level.The Congolese club had one good goalkeeper at that time called Samba Bright. Apart from that goal I scored against him in Lagos, I also scored against him at the national level when the Super Eagles defeated Congo at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu. So, Samba Bright became my wife, so to speak, because I scored against him in Lagos, in Congo and in Enugu.After playing two seasons with Berger, the management of BCC Lions came calling for his services once again. By this time, Fuludu had had his first cap with the national team against Burkina Faso in 1991 in Ouagadougou, under coach Westerhof. He was able to combine his job at BCC Lions with the national team and became one of Westerhofs best friends because of his dedication to duty. He was part of the Super Eagles squad to Tunisia 94 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria won by beating Zambia 2-1 in the final. However, he did not feature in the matches.After the Tunisia 94 Nations Cup, I didnt make it to USA 94 World Cup. I wont speak much on the intrigues at that time against the home-based players, he said. So I headed to Turkey, where I signed for Altay Sports Club. I was there for three years and was the first black player to feature in that team. The club was founded in 1914 and it still exists till today. I still talk with them on daily basis.On his return from Turkey, Fuludu returned to UNIBEN for his masters degree. He was unveiled as director of football last year by the management of Warri Wolves Football Club of Warri. Before then, he had served as technical director of Bendel Insurance.Now he reminisced on his rudimentary football years in the primary, secondary and university days: Football has been very good for me, but I must say that school then was wonderful. Your parents dont need to be rich to give you quality education. The system made it possible for us to participate in games and the result is what some of us are enjoying today. I think the government of today can do even better, but first, we must have people who are sincere to change things.
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