How Chief MKO Abiola Sponsored My Education After Helping Ogun State Win First Silverware in 85 – Tajudeen Disu

After being named an Ambassador for the Gateway Tertiary Institutions Games (GATIG), Nigerian former international and Abiola Babes defender Tajudeen Disu sat down with Olanrewaju Agiri at the recently concluded National Sports Festival in Abeokuta to discuss the good old days of grassroots sports and how the late business magnate and politician Chief M.K.O. Abiola influenced his life and philosophy.

Disu popularly called Gaddafi who was born December 27, was also formerly Technical Director of Lagos State Football Association (LSFA), and he played alongside Peter Rufai, Clement Temile, Stephen Keshi, Samson Ozokula, Wahab Adesina, Yisa Shofoluwe among others during his playing days.
He was a member of the first Nigeria World Cup team to reach the 1983 World Youth Championship finals in Mexico.

Academic Journey

I attended Ansar Deen Primary School in Surulere, Lagos, and came to St. Leo’s College in Ibara, Abeokuta, where I spent three years, and after that I went back to Lagos at St. Timothy’s College to complete my O’level after which, I proceeded to Baptist Academy in Lagos for my higher level, which is known as HSC, which is A’ level. And after my A-Level, I graduated in Agricultural Economics and did my Masters in Sports Management in the United States of America.

Football career in Nigerian League:

I played for Abiola Babes in 1979 while I was still in Baptist Academy, which was the year the team was established, and I was the team captain. I also played for National Bank and Leventis United and then came back to Abiola Babes in 1984 and helped the team to play in four consecutive Challenge Cup finals, 84, 85, 86, and 87.

In 84 we played against my former team, Leventis United; we lost 1-0 in the final. The second year, which was 85, we played against the BCC Lions of Gboko; we won. I was the one who played that penalty kick to give Ogun its first silverware, which was the Challenge Cup.

In 86 we played against Leventis again, and we lost, and in ’87 we played against Ranchase Bees of Kaduna, and we won the second Challenge Cup, all with Abiola Babes, winning two Challenge Cups in four consecutive FA Cup finals.

On Chief MKO Abiola:

Chief MKO Abiola gave me a scholarship to go for my tertiary education abroad in 1987, which happened to be the year Abiola Babes was disbanded. There’s no way I can tell my story without mentioning Chief MKO Abiola; it is not complete because this man has done so well for many sportsmen and women in his days.
Once you meet Chief MKO Abiola, your problems are solved then. We, the players who played for Abiola Babes, have good memories of this great man.

He gave me a four-year scholarship to study; he invited me to his house and told me to stay and play for Abiola Babes; he gave me and Dehinde Akinlotan four years of scholarship at the same time; Dehinde left, but I waited behind to help Abiola Babes win those FA Cups.

It was Chief Abiola that made it possible for me to go to school in America, and till today my family is still there, my wife and four kids living there.
I just came back a few months ago and will still go back. I have come many times to serve Ogun State, helping Gateway United Football Club gain promotions to NPFL, and I will always be ready to serve Ogun State, if not for anything, then for what Chief MKO Abiola has done for me.

Without Chief Abiola’s assistance, I may have ended up like many former players who are now left in poverty and begging to eat and provide for their families. But when Nigeria let me down, he offered me the chance.
I made this statement because, more over 40 years after we (the Flying Eagles 1983) qualified Nigeria for the inaugural FIFA tournament in Mexico, we were promised heaven and earth, but the scholarships have still not been awarded.

However, once we defeated Ranchers Bees in 1987 and brought home the FA Cup trophy in the colors of Abiola Babes, Chief Abiola honored his promise by himself. He provided me with a four-year scholarship that covered both housing and food.

On appointment as GATIG Ambassador:
I am excited to be appointed as an ambassador for the GATIG Games, because the philosophy is to catch them young, and I will do my best to make it stand by making sure that it’s an annual event.
It will definitely produce future stars, because I am also a product of school sports, from Flying Eagles to Academicals and to the senior national team. If I did not go through school sports, I probably wouldn’t have been discovered, so I’m for the opportunity to give back to school sports.

Reconciling his time and now:

Things are very different from when we were playing as student athletes and what we have now. You don’t have to know any coach, you don’t have to know any manager, or have a godfather before you’re invited for a national call-up.

Godfatherism has spoiled everything now, in the sense that if you don’t know anybody up there, you will not be invited.
Everything now depends on who you know and not what you know, and that is what is making us not get it right. We keep losing lots of medals because we’re not putting the round peg in the round hole.
During our own time, it was your skill that would earn you a place in the team. It was through our skills that we got invited to represent our various states from where we graduated into the national team, but now the reverse is the case.
You will have to have a godfather who will speak for you, and they will throw away lots of good players that do not have a godfather, and that is not a good way to go.
I’m not in any way supporting the idea of allowing established athletes to compete in the national sports festival, as we’re witnessing presently during these Gateway Games. The National Festival was designed with the intention to produce new talents, and by allowing professionals to participate, it has defeated the motives. I live in the United States today because I have benefited from a program like this.

Advising the present student athletes on a successful career path:

Disu said they must have a submissive spirit by cultivating the habit of respecting whoever is in position of authority they meet in their journey, be it captain, coach, team manager, chaperone, or even teammates. Because what I noticed these days is most of our kids now lack discipline. Skills without discipline will take a sports person nowhere.

Most of my mates in football that didn’t have discipline during our times didn’t end well. They all fell by the wayside because they’re not disciplined. If a coach tells you it is 3 o’clock for training and you stroll in by 4 o’clock because you think you’re the best, it will definitely haunt you.

An athlete that wants to be successful must adhere to these three ‘Ds.’ Discipline, Determination, and Dedication; lack of discipline has cut short the career of many players that I know during our time.