Life throws up opportunities when hope is completely lost. Like Christians believe, God works in mysterious ways to perform wonders. That is the story of Francis Bassey Oku the young school leaver who departed Calabar and found a place at Stationery Stores Football Club, Lagos.
After playing for South Eastern State Academicals in 1974 as a student of Hope Waddell Training Institute, Oku followed his coach, Francis Ukott to Lagos. His mentor was on his way to Budapest, Hungary on a coaching course. It was around the time Hungarian side, Csepel visited Nigeria on a playing tour.
Ukott took Oku to the Adebajo Babes camp, for trial but Team Secretary Adeyemi Gansallo felt the player was too small for Stores and could be injured by bigger players. However, fate had something different and at the end, the rejected stone became an integral part of the Flaming Flamingos.
Oku said : “By faith, I went training with Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL) FC through one Oputa who was their captain. Fortunately, their part time coach was Augustine Ofuokwu, an Assistant Coach with Stores.”
Ofuokwu, a member of the Mexico 1968 Olympics Green Eagles squad and former captain of Stores, was impressed with the greenhorn.
“Immediately after the training, he told me he would come to pick me up at home the next morning, for training with Stores. The rest is History.” Oku added. He spent four season at Stores, between 1975 and 1978, before journeying back to Calabar.
The soccer connection between Calabar and Lagos, is interesting. Although the game was introduced in Nigeria by James Luke in 1902, Lagos later stole the show. The first football match was played on June 15, 1904 at the Hope Waddell Training Institute. The school boys defeated seamen of the British warship, HMS Thistle 3-2.
By 1906, there was a competition, the Beverly Cup, in Calabar, named after Captain W.H.B Beverly. We got to know from Ernest Ikoli, one of the pioneer students of King College, Lagos in 1909, that Lagos began to enjoy competition in 1914 when the school battled with European teams.
Lagos teams took part in the Mulford Cup, donated by Frederick Baron Mulford, a prominent school master and that was long after the Beverly Cup had taken off in Calabar. Of the eight teams that debuted at the inaugural Mulford Cup, there was a Calabar Eleven.
Calabar wanted to claim bragging rights and a match was organised between them and Lagos, on August 26, 1939. Hosts Lagos, confirmed supremacy with a 5-1 drubbing of the visitors who had one Michael Ani in their line up. He would later become Chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO).
Smart Lagos. An unwritten policy of taking the best footballers from Calabar to Lagos began. It was initiated by Director of Marine, Commander AVP Ivey. That was how Etim Henshaw, Mesembe Otu, Edet Ben and Bassey Utit found their way to Eko. I should also add Bassey ‘Mickey Mouse’ Ikpeme.
It was not until 1954 that a Calabar team, St. Patrick’s College, won the Challenge Cup. Lagos had dominated, until 1953. The good news is that two Hope Waddell products, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Akanu Ibiam, made marks in Lagos.
Zik played for Lagos Diamond in 1923 and formed the Zik Athletics Club (ZAC) in 1938. Ibiam captained the Kings College football squad. Credit should go to Calabar for producing Etim Richard Henshaw, the first to lead the national soccer team overseas, in 1949.
When Oku left Lagos in 1978, Zik was preparing for Second Republic politics and Lagos and Calabar were governed by seamen, Ebitu Ukiwe and Babatunde Elegbede. The player settled for Etesis International. Zik had internationalised soccer when he recruited Collins Gardner, from the Gold Coast.
Oku had many Ghanaian team mates, at Stores. Hammond Aryee, Sam Ametefio, Audu Ibrahim, Robert Kweku and Fucking Mensah joined stars like Peter Fregene, Haruna Ilerika, Yomi Peters, Prosper Ajavon, Aro Akintayo, Emmanuel Umoffia, Tunde Oretade and Sammy (World 6) to keep the Adebajo Babes flaming.
I wanted to know Oku’s best moment. “Winning the 1976 Oba Cup, by beating NEPA 3-0 and yours truly scoring the third goal with a beautiful half volley. My worst game was losing to the same NEPA in the 1976 Lagos State Challenge Cup final,” he said.
Oku moved about. Calabar Rovers, 1979-1980, Rubber Board, Benin, 1981-1982, Housing Corporation, Akure, 1983-1984, before switching to NEPA, Akure, 1985-1986. Today, he remains grateful to God. “I want to tell us, in everything we do, we should do it whole heartedly and with passion”. Some of his contemporaries and juniors include – Remi Oguntimoju, Augustine Fregene, Agan Adat, Etta Egbe, Monday Eguavoen, Isong Isang, Austin Igbinobaro, Friday Elaho and Uwem Ekarika.
