17 Years after, Akpoborie Seeks Olympics Largess, Wants Justice for Damaged Vessel

17 Years after, Akpoborie Seeks Olympics Largess, Wants Justice for Damaged Vessel

Jonathan Akpoborie came into national limelight when he gave Nigeria the lead against Germany in the final of the 1985 U-16 World Cup, but was more popular for his exploit with German Bundesliga sides. Now retired and into business and football punditry, the 1996 Olympian talks to KUNLE ADEWALE about the high and low points of his career: Nigerian football and his controversial “slave vessel.”

The beginning…

He grew up in Ajegunle, a suburb of Lagos where football is a way of life and Jonathan Akpoborie was one of the footballers that emerged from that part of the country.

“In Ajegunle then, football was a past time and we derive a lot of motivation from discussions on the best players around the area. But then, we need to sneak from the prowling eyes of our parents to go and play. But there was this particular day I went to watch my street play against the next street of which my senior brother was part of the team. On getting to the field, players from my street were not complete and I was therefore asked to play but because of my small size compared to those on the pitch I was reluctant to play. But they eventually persuaded me and at the end of the game, everybody kept asking why I haven’t been playing all the while. That was how I got the needed confidence to play in the midst of bigger boys.

Breaking into U-17 team…

His story of how he broke into the world Cup winning U-17 team is in itself very interesting.

“A lot of people marvel, when I tell my story. I was playing with my Igbobi College colleagues on the school pitch with a felele (a rubber ball) on this fateful day and the coach of Savannah Bank was there watching and after a break, I went to take water and the man approached me and asked if I would like to be training with his team.

The Savannah Bank team then was made up of men and not boys and I was just a little boy. I told him if he could provide me with a football boots I will give it a shot and the next week he brought the pair of boots and that was how I started training with them.

And during one of my games with Savannah, a reporter, Joe Audu called me after the game and asked if I will be interested in playing for the national U-17 side and I answered in the affirmative and he gave me a note to the coach. After my first training with the team at Union Bank playing ground I was asked to report to camp with the team but I told them to first of all seek my father’s consent because I was supposed to be in school. They therefore wrote a letter to my dad of which he agreed after I was able to convince him that I can actually cope with my education alongside playing football, because in my family everybody is educated. That was how I was drafted to the U-17 team’s camp.”

Trip to China…

By virtue of the fact that Jonathan joined the team about a month before the trip to World Cup he did not spend much time with the rest of the players but his work rate in training convinced Sebastian Broderick.

He decided to take him to the tournament in spite a nagging injury he sustained from a friendly game two weeks before the trip to China.

“On getting to China I could not take part in the first three games because of the injury. But from the quarter finals stage, I started getting playing time to be substituted later but in the final game, Broderick decided to take the risk of fielding me for the whole duration of the match. He actually called me before the final game and said ‘you are one of my best players so I am going to field you today in spite of your injury.’ But the other coaches were sceptical, which was understandable. But the trust the coach had in me boosted my confidence on the field in the final against Germany.”

Scoring in the final…

Scoring the first goal in the final against Germany was one good feeling Jonathan will take to the grave. The goal made him feel 10 feet tall and he will forever cherish that moment.

“It was a feeling I cannot find the right words to describe. The goal really boosted my confidence and I looked at the coach in the face and said ‘you believe I can do it and I have done it.’ There were so many things running through my mind at the same time but at the blast of the final whistle, I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to play football professionally.

“Winning the U-17 in 1985 gave me the audacity to confront my parents that I really wanted to play football professionally. But then we did not know what we have achieved for the country. We never knew that back home Nigerians were watching us on television. There was no word from Nigeria. We left the country unnoticed and for us it was just another youth tournament.

“Even the then chairman of the Nigeria Football Association, late Anthony Ikhazobor, came during the half time break and told us that we are just 45 minutes away from being the champion of the world. But it was not until we got down from the plane in Lagos and saw the large number of people that came to welcome us that we realized what we had achieved and I burst into tears. Looking back at everything it was really emotional.”

No age cheat…

Cheating is something Nigeria has been battling with in age grade competitions in recent years. But for Jonathan, the 1985 Golden Eaglets team were really under the age bracket considering that none of them was playing in the national league; they were still in secondary schools or just out of school.

“Some of us were just in the feeder teams of a league club or playing for a non-league club. I was playing for Savannah Bank that was just struggling in the Lagos State league. Before then, I was training with Lipton Tea FC twice a week after school.”

Faults the system…

The former FC Saarbrücken of Germany striker faulted football administrators for the problems confronting Nigerian football.

“During our own time we had the Principals’ Cup, the National Academicals, whereby winners of the Principals’ Cup in every state get to play against one another and from there players were picked by some clubs. These are some of the ways we develop and discover players. But the bane of our administrators is that they don’t move with the time. They sort of stand still even when rules are changing globally.

“Rules that were used 30 years ago cannot be applicable this time around. It is not possible, and hence the collapse of the Principals’ Cup and all other developmental programmes we used to have then.

“Even the National Sports Festival is no longer what it used to be in years past. Though it was not a five-star organisation, but there was a system in place whereby athletes were developed in the right way but they no longer exist again and that is why we are where we are today in sports. We still have the talents but the right platform to perform and the opportunity to develop are no longer there.

Federal Government embargo…

On returning to Nigeria from China, the victorious Golden Eaglets were tagged “Federal Government Property” and their lives were restricted as a result of the tag. Therefore, Akpoborie, who had made up his mind to play professional football after the victory in China, had to wait another three years before getting his wish.

“The process of my travelling to the United States was a little bit difficult because on return from China the federal government tagged us ‘Federal Government Property’, therefore we really could not be allowed to play outside the shores of the country. So, a transfer to play outside Nigeria was not possible because of the embargo the federal government placed on us.

“We actually wasted a year as far as football was concerned but it was reciprocated with what we gained from going to school. When the embargo was finally released I took another two years playing for the U-20 and getting educated at the Lagos State University (LASU). But it was cut short when I got a scholarship to study in America and I left for Brooklyn University.

Setbacks…

For Jonathan, the one year the embargo lasted was a wasted year. According to him after defeating Italy which had the best league in the world then in the group stages, there was the general belief in every member of the team that “we can make it professionally”. Indeed, some of the players actually got offers from some European clubs but the embargo denied them.

“Our international passports were not with us, therefore we could not travel. Two weeks without active football is a setback for any player not to talk of over a year. The problem back then was that our administrators lacked the experience on how to handle a victorious team like ours. It was an achievement that was new and massive and the government was just struggling with how to handle it. Teams after us that have done well at that level had most of their players moved to Europe to play professional football.”

Off to America…

During the one year break, I was admitted into the Federal School of Arts and Sciences in Victoria Island, Lagos, then got admission to LASU, where I studied physical education but all the while I was processing my papers to travel to America and I was eventually given a scholarship to study at Brooklyn College in New York.

“The wish from my family members was that I should go to school, but after the U-20 World Cup in Chile in 1987, I was no longer enjoying studying in Nigeria. If we had performed well in Chile I would have leveraged on that to go to Europe, but unfortunately our performance in the tournament was dismal.

“That was why I took the scholarship provided by Brooklyn College. But football in America then was not really what I expected. In America, the turnout at stadiums was not encouraging. You only have about 50 people inside the stadium as against the more than 60, 000 fans that turned out at the National Stadium. In my school then, there were about seven Nigerian internationals among who were, Dehinde Akinlotan, Bremner Alada, Segu Fapetu, Michael Dominic and Waheed Akani. And we were winning our games with massive score lines. So, it was not really the kind of challenge I craved for and few years later I called a friend of mine in Germany and he organized a trial for me and that was how I left for Germany.”

Chile ‘87…

One of the most celebrated Nigerian teams was the squad that went to the 1987 Under-20 World Cup in Chile, but performed woefully. Akpoborie throws an insight into what actually went wrong in spite of the array of stars in the team.

“That was arguably one of the best U-20 teams this country has ever produced. After the success of the ‘85 team that went to Moscow and won the bronze, there was more attention on the ‘87 team.

“The late coach Chris Udemezue had the team under his control until external influence destroyed everything that we worked for. There was this incident with Etim Esin in which he was shot by armed robbers during our preparation to Chile tourney that actually destabilized the team.

“Etim no doubt is one of the best footballers Nigeria has ever produced but his action outside the field of play destroyed what was to be a promising career for him. The team was taken to Nairobi, Kenya, as part of our preparations and to get away from distractions. Everybody trained very hard to make the team, while Esin was still in Lagos recuperating from the gun shot.

“Udemezue really wanted the team to travel to Chile from Nairobi but the sports administrators and the sponsors wanted the team to return to Nigeria and spend about a week in the country which was very unnecessary. We indeed returned to Nigeria with the team intact but the then NFA asked Udemezue to include Etim against the coach’s wish. His eventual inclusion affected the team both on and outside the field of play and that was our main problem.”

Turned down by Belgian club…

Jonathan did not move straight to Germany from America. His first trial was indeed in Belgium, with Lokeren that had former Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia and he put up with Etim Esin, because Peter Ogaba was putting up with Siasia.

“I have to give gratitude to Siasia because he was the one that actually encouraged me to come to Belgium for trials,” he said.

But coming from America Akpoborie was not really fit to play European football and was asked to go and improve on his fitness and come back after a month.

Journey to Germany…

On his return back to America, he packed his belongings and boarded a plane to Nigeria before finally moving to Germany.

Jonathan was very lucky because on getting to Germany, former Ghanaian international striker, Anthony Yeboah was leaving FC Saarbrücken and the club was in search of a new striker as replacement and Akpoborie happened to be around and they decided to give him a trial.

After three days of intense training he was offered a two-year contract and he was with them for two years.

“Getting the contract was the first hurdle to cross, because I was very lucky to get it considering where I was coming from and my fitness level. It was a very important contract for me, though not really a big one. Then we were only three African players playing in the Bundesliga - Sule Montara from Senegal, Tony Yeboah and me and we were very popular in Germany at that time. Every weekend when we stepped onto the field we were always the cynosure of all eyes and a high expectation was placed on us which was something that really motivated me.”

No regrets not playing for Eagles in major competitions…

In spite of Akpoborie’s exploits at the junior cadre and for a number of German clubs he did not star for the Super Eagles in major tournaments, something he attributed to football politics at that time of which he said he was not ready to be a party to.

“I was not ready to beg to play for the national team. I wanted to play for the Super Eagles strictly on merit. My records with the German clubs I played for speaks volume. At the 1998 World Cup in France I was really ready to play for Nigeria and I was the only Nigerian attacker whose club qualified for the European Cup final and was playing regularly. But even at that I was still left out of the France party, which to me was mysterious and only the then NFA members and their coaches can explain. But whatever, the criteria they used in exempting me from the team, it was beyond football.”

Tribute to Bonfere Jo…

Akpoborie however had kind words for Dutch technical adviser, Jo Bonfere, whom he said likes the way he plays.

“Of all the coaches I have worked with, Bonfere is the most organized. He had his clear plan of what he wanted to do and he was successful because he stuck to his plan.”

Joining the Olympics team from the stands…

Akpoborie was just one of those in the stands at the Stade de Kégué, Lome, watching the Olympics team take on their Togolese counterpart when he was hauled from the VIP stands where he was watching the team play to be drafted into the Olympics team.

“I was on the VIP stand watching the U-23 team take on Togo in a friendly game in Lome and after the first half, I was invited to the dressing room to play the second half. That was how I changed and dressed to play in the second half.

“After the game, I sent my driver to get my belongings from the house and I proceeded with them to America for the 1996 football event of the Atlanta Olympics. The hard work we put in America was immense. Though we had time to also enjoy ourselves but Bonfere had a timetable he stuck to. We all quite understood what we were there for and it was no surprise that we won the gold.”

Yet to get his Olympics reward…

The former Rostock man however did not return with the team to Nigeria and therefore did not get to share of the largess that was given to members of the team by the federal and Lagos State governments.”

Separating football from government…

For the former VfB Stuttgart player, victory in the last Africa Cup of Nations has done little to restore the pride of Nigeria’s football.

“Reviving Nigerian football is beyond winning the African Cup of Nations; the victory in South Africa was just cosmetic because the problem is still there. If we want football to progress in the country there is the need to separate it from government. Any other thing aside from that will only show how unserious we can be. Our population is about 160 million, with over 50 million supporting football. So, we have the capacity to run the game on our own without government interference.

“Though government will be needed to carry us through the transition period from government to private, but with the way our system is being run now, football cannot thrive, which is very unfortunate. There is no way the government can run football successfully in Nigeria. Even if you engage the services of the best organizers in the world to come and organize our football and they have to go through our system they will encounter problem. The first thing to do is trying to separate football from government before thinking on what to do with the various clubs, our league and the national teams.”

Greatest moment…

Though Jonathan will forever cherish his goal that killed Germany in China, his greatest moment in football will however be his lone goal in an encounter between FC Hansa Rostock and FC Bayern in Munich.

“In the rundown to the game, what was on the lips of everybody was how many goals Rostock was going to concede because of the calibre of players they had at their disposal -Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaus, Jean Pierre Papin, Mehmet Scholl and the likes, but we shocked them.
“I scored the only goal and it was an unbelievable feeling in front of sixty three thousand fans. It was one goal I will never forget. I was the only black player on the field that day because Kuffour was on the bench for Bayern. However, my goal against Germany in the U-16 was another turning point in my career.”

Problem with UNICEF…

In 2001, the former Nigerian international made the headlines after he was accused by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) of child trafficking to Gabon and his vessel was stopped in Benin. The allegation led to Akpoborie’s suspension from the Wolfsburg team and eventually, after a brief sojourn at Saarbrücken, to his retirement.

“My vessel was impounded in Benin Republic after UNICEF said the vessel was transporting about 250 children into slavery. It was shown live on cable television and I was watching it live from Germany and there were many reporters and camera men there and they went inside the vessel and the UNICEF officials were asked to produce the 250 children because not a single child was found inside the vessel. It was just a mere rumour by UNICEF and till today I’m still surprised that an organization like UNICEF could actually cook up a story like that.”

Court ruling…

UNICEF’S claim turned out to be a ruse and Akpoborie tried severally to restore his business but was made to understand that it was still under investigation and that the vessel would not be released until after investigation.

“In 2007, the Port Cotonu, actually dragged the vessel to the sea shore and left it to sink. The vessel later drifted to Cotonu beach and was vandalized by their nationals and the parts sold in bits.

“I went to court and I got a favourable judgment and from 2009 I have been battling with the Beninese government to pay me my money of which they haven’t. They were instructed to pay me for the damages on my vessel and I was even made to pay N9 million to register for the judgment, which I paid to the government of Benin Republic and since 2009, I have been waiting for them to pay my money based on the court’s ruling but to no avail. The bailiffs have been instructed to collect my money but they have refused.

Appeal to federal government…

After doing everything legally to get the Benonois government to honour the court’s ruling and pay him his money, the football agent is now appealing to the Federal Government to intervene and come to his rescue.

On why he has not taken UNICEF to court for the alleged damage done to his name, he said: “The first thing is to get my money for the damaged vessel before turning my attention to the international body.”