BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Not many current followers of Nigerian football will remember a certain Sam Garba Okoye. His name may no longer ring bells to the current generation.
But he was a legend of Nigerian footballer. He was the scorer of the first goal a Nigerian national team scored in an international competition outside the continent.
Simply called Sam Garba, he opened scoring for Nigeria in the 33rd minute of the country’s Olympic Games football match against Japan at Mexico ‘68.
It was the first of the 48 goals that Nigeria had scored so far at the Olympics – a landmark. He was also the scorer of the last Challenge Cup goal scored at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos (now Mobolaji Johnson Arena), the birthplace of the Nigerian national cup.
The goal was the equaliser, at 2-2 when Mighty Jets played against Bendel Insurance in the 1972 cup final. Garba’s last kick of the ball, stalemated scorelines and a replay outside Lagos for the first time ever.
Milestones appeared linked to him as he was the star of the Nigerian Academicals that beat their Ghanaian counterparts 1-0 in Accra on 13 February 1966. For the records, that was the first time that a Nigerian team ever beat Ghana in Accra.
In that squad was also the likes of Peter Anieke and Tony Igwe who also played significant roles in the national team and also the Stationery Stores of Lagos in the years that followed.
But 45 years ago, on this date, 31 July 1978, Sam Garba, the former national team footballer and later an assistant coach to the then Green Eagles, died in an automobile accident along Lafia-Akwanga Road in Nasarawa State. He was aged 30.
At his bloom, Jos was the nursery that produced star footballers for Nigeria. It was from there that the trio of Garba, Tony Igwe, Peter Anieke, Gabriel Babalola and Segun Odegbami emerged.
Later Okoye played for Plateau XI, Mighty Jets and the Green Eagles. Although he had no Challenge Cup gold medal to show, he was a regular in six final matches played by Jos teams from mid 1960s to 1974.
The most significant of the Challenge Cup appearances was that of 1972. With five minutes left of play, and the Mighty Jets trailing 0-2 to Bendel Insurance, Sam Garba Okoye scored two quick goals to stalemate the match at 2-2
His equalizing goal was such a beauty that was saluted with a standing ovation and crowd-pitch invasion. He took the ball from his own half and dribbled five Insurance defenders before scoring the goal.
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