By Patrick Omorodion

My people in Ekpon, a little town in Igueben local government of Edo state have a saying, “e jen sukai u ahunzi kai”.

It simply means, the more you go, the more you see. It could also mean the farther you dig, the more you find or discover.

I have known Barrister Godwin Dudu-Orumen for over two decades now. He loves sports, particularly football more than his law profession.

His story dates back to the late 60s and early 70s when as a child, his pastime after school was to go to the Ogbe Stadium to watch any sport that was in session.

That was were his love for Bendel Insurance football club grew. Maybe it was his love for the Ogbe Stadium, now renamed Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in honour of the man who made Midwest and later Bendel State the number in sports in the country, that made him go to the University of Benin.

It is not to my knowledge if Dudu, as he is fondly called, practiced as a lawyer. No wonder he keeps saying he knows and loves sports more than the law he read at the university.

Because Dudu was almost always at the stadium watching Bendel Insurance train and play matches, he got to know the qualities of a good coach when sees one..

He has always advocated for quality coaches for the Super Eagles, right from the days of Clemens Westerhof when he was the Special Assistant to then Executive Chairman, National Sports Commission, Chief Sebastine Babatunde Williams who facilitated the employment of the Dutch as the Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles.

After his stint with Chief Williams, rather than dust his law books to return into legal practice, Dudu stuck to sports, talking sports on television and at a time setting up a sports tabloid.

He also set up a football Academy to help groom young talents for the junior national teams.

His love for football propelled him to set up the first viewing centre in Lagos which he called Sportshaq. There fans watch football over drinks and food in a much more relaxed mood.

I have been at Sportshaq a few times but the atmosphere last Friday was a different one.

Dudu has never hidden his love for the African proverb that if you want to eat a toad, look for the fat and juicy one. Though an advocate for foreign coaches for the Super Eagles, he insists on the ones with pedigree.

That was why he heavily criticized the last two foreign coaches the NFF engaged, Gernot Rohr and Jose Peseiro.

He made his voice loud over the choice of a replacement for Peseiro and when it became obvious that the Portuguese will not be retained, he threw his weight behind Finidi George who assisted Peseiro in the 2023 AFCON campaign.

He had brushes with Nigerians, even members of the Sportshaq family and sports journalists on who was best for the job between Finidi and Emmanuel Amuneke.

On Friday when I honoured his invitation to join the Sportshaq family, I didn’t expect to see what I saw that day.

The names I saw on the platform, Dudu started placing faces on them and I was welcomed with handshakes, smiles and banters. It was a night tagged ‘Celebrating the appointment of an indigenous coach’, though the man they were celebrating, Finidi was not there himself.

I believe the celebration was to toast the end of the era of another journey man European being foisted on Nigeria as the Chief Coach of the Super Eagles, not really because it was Finidi instead of Amuneke. Some of them though believe that Finidi best fits into the role for now.

The aspect that really thrilled me that day was the side attraction, the karaoke session when members took turns to exhibit their singing talent.

That day, the argument on who will be crowned the Champions of the English Premier League was put on the back burner. It was just a moment to celebrate victory for Nigerian fans whose voices were heard, arguably for the first time because majority clamoured that the NFF should look inwards this time around.

What surprised me most is the calibre of Sportshaq family members who turned up that night for the celebration.

Apart from Dudu himself who took pains to list these members for me, others included,  Sigismund Bucknor – Entertainment Manager,  Dr Teddy Sipoh, Consultant/CEO, St Luke’s Medical Centre, Surulere, Nathan Ifeka – Musician/Publisher, Peter Onwuozor – Compliance Manager, SHELL, Dr. Okafor Egbuna Mba, Medical Director, First Dominican Hospital, Surulere and Adeyemi Adeeko – Director, Public Service.

Also there was Otunba Adetola – Lagos based Engineer,  Kunle Doherty, Business Consultant, Olusola Lawson, Sports Marketing and Advertising, Oladapo Giwa, Entrepreneur, Bolanke Oluwole, Procurement Services Expert and Oyindamola Olatinigbe, Project Manager.

Others were Ohams Promise, Sound Engineer and Music Producer, Ikechi Charles, Fitness Expert, Muyiwa Osinaike, Culture Consultant, Joe Ehizode, Sports Consultant in the Diaspora, Eloho Akene, MD/CEO Mareva Interiors and of course my humble self. It was a night when high class fans and influencers in their own rights came together to celebrate the appointment of their own, an indigenous coach for the Super Eagles they all love.

Even though Finidi was not there, the message will surely get to him. He has to justify the confidence Nigerians have reposed in him. Gladly, he too has affirmed he won’t disappoint them when he said, “I know I am in-charge now, and the heavy responsibility is on me to win the two matches (World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic next month). I will do my best to ensure success and qualify for the World Cup”.