The Patron of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Benue State Chapter and the Benue State Council of the Nigeria Referees, Anthony Omale Agada (aka Uncle T), in an interview with VoiceSports’ Terfa Alaghga, revealed that, his parents did not let him continue playing football because they believed there was no gain and better future in it, and that he single-handed revived the Nigerian Football Coaches Association, Benue State Chapter. He also spoke on other issues.
Excerpts:
VoiceSports: Did you play football in your youth?
Agada: Of course, I played football in my youth as a goalkeeper and I started from my village at the LGEA Primary School, to the St Joseph’s Primary School Orokam. Throughout my secondary school days at the Idoma Community Secondary School Orokam which was later renamed and relocated to Otobi as the Federal Government College, I participated in both High Jump and goalkeeping, and I was one of the athletes that represented the state in these two games at the All Secondary School Games in Kaduna, Kaduna State in 1984, under Brigadier John Atom Kpera (retd), as the Military Administrator of Benue State.
VoiceSports: Did you win any medal in any of the sports that you competed in?
Agada: No, but in other events, Benue athletes harvested medals and emerged seventh on the overall medals chat.
VoiceSports: Was a reception held in your honour upon return?
Agada: No. Apart from the feeding and the allowances which we enjoyed at the games in Kaduna, when we returned, they only praised us on the radio for the position that we won, for the brilliant performance that we put up and after welcoming us we were told to leave for our various destinations. After all, most of us were kids and didn’t’ care if they had any package for us or not. For me, I was even okay with the food and allowances that I enjoyed in Kaduna, and having come from a school in the village, I just didn’t have any problem with that and remember, we were in the military era and you know how they do their things. A sister of mine whose husband was a military officer but is now a retired General, also participated in the Games and won a medal in the 100 metres race for the state.
VoiceSports: But did you continue with sports after graduation from secondary school?
Agada: Considering my background, they didn’t allow me an inch to continue with sports because during our time, not every family would allow their children to engage in sports because they believed there was no gain and better future in football. For that reason, I had to temporarily call it quits with active playing but when I went for further studies at the Benue Polytechnic, Ugbokolo in Benue State, for my Diploma in Law programme, my contributions to the development of sports were exceptional because I was part of the committee that inaugurated the departmental sports competitions and we were playing the inter-departmental football competitions and also participating in the Polytechnic Games. Ogbe Obande was the Rector of the school and he gave us the maximum support by providing a trophy which was competed for.
VoiceSports: For how long did you stay at the Polytechnic?
Agada: Just for two years and after graduation from the BenPoly, I gained admission at the University of Nigeria Nsuka (UNN), to continue with a Degree programme in Law, but unfortunately, on my way to resume lectures, I was involved in an accident which claimed the lives of six passengers on the spot. I was the only survivor in that car crash. In fact, Maradona, I am like a child of destiny.
VoiceSports: Like a child of destiny, how do you mean?
Agada: When I was rushed to the hospital unconscious, my mother and every other person, cried their hearts out to the extent that they bought a coffin, thinking I was also dead but God in His infinite mercy, revived me. After recovery, I couldn’t report to UNN for classes and for a whole year, I was at home. That was how I lost the admission but as God would have it done for his children, I went back to the Benue Polytechnic Ugbokolo for my HND programme, after which I proceeded to the Benue State University, Makurdi, for my PGDM, MBA and Msc programmes. That was when I finally stopped playing football.
VoiceSports: After your active playing, what informed your decision to contribute to football development?
Agada: Because of the passion that I had for football and considering my wealth of experience, I reasoned that rather than stay away, it would be better if I fixed myself somewhere and identified with people that I could share the experience I had garnered with. That was when the idea of identifying with the Nigerian Football Coaches Association, Benue State Chapter (NFCA), was conceived.
VoiceSports: What led to your induction as Patron of the NFCA?
Agada: When I joined the association in 2003, not many coaches knew me, I would come for the usual and normal training as every other member would do until in 2009, when the issue of accountability came up very strongly in the association that was made up of certificated members who were great coaches of repute, great players who had retired from active football, medical doctors, journalists, Lawyers, engineers, captains of industry, civil servants, bankers, accountants like, Tunde Dish, the late Shuaibu Amodu, Evans Ogenyi, the late Solomon Ogbeide, the late Tom Ichull, Andrew Iornongo, the late Andrew Agu, Emmanuel Orkar, Emmanuel Orsar, the late Dantanimu Alakoro, Eugene Agagbe, DSP Yakubu Manbo, Atume Hanmba, the late Agber Gbaa, Moses Kpakor, Musa Plato, Ismail Umar, Terfa Alaghga (Maradona), and others too numerous to mention. The issue of accountability gave birth to segregation and faction in the NFCA Makurdi, and the resultant effect was disunity. The continual request for accountability from the EXCO led by DSP Yakubu Manbo (retd), the late Tom Ichull, Atume Hanmba, Aondowase Tyavwua etc who although, were leading the association well, did not see the light of day and those who thought they were contributing more funds to the association, faulted the account which was presented to them by the EXCO, and they plotted a coup.
VoiceSports: How did they plot the coup?
Agada: On that fateful Saturday, we came for training in the morning, and discovered that all the big wigs who were movers and shakers of the association including Musa Plato, Elvis Ikechukwu(Ojigwe) and others, left and formed the All Stars Makurdi. Their reason was simply that since the EXCO couldn’t give proper account of the funds that accrued to the association, they had no reason to remain. It was a mass exodus of almost every member of the association and they moved with all the balls. The association became grounded and the few members who did not leave were stranded and frustrated.
VoiceSports: Why didn’t you join the moving train?
Agada: I couldn’t have done it because it is not in my character to join a rebellion. I was surprised that those who did not even know where the problem emanated from and where it was heading to, joined the moving train even Makosa and Aondowase Tyavwua left. When some members of the EXCO came for training that day feeling devastated including myself. I wondered why those who left were hoodwinked and couldn’t reason that it was an EXCO they elected and as such there was also a conventional way of removing them from office if they were not responsible but rather, they chose to form a parallel association.
VoiceSports: What aspect of their action did you fault?
Agada: Everything. Because it was a rebellious action demonstrated and those who were involved irrespective of the classes of personalities, did not reason right. You don’t negotiate from the outside rather, you stay inside to fix a problem. When I came to the training ground at the Government College, Makurdi and met Coach Manbo and some of his EXCO members in a sober mood, I left in anger to Modern Market, Makurdi and bought ten footballs at a time, beads, a pair of jerseys and came back to the field, wore one of the jerseys and began playing all the ten balls all alone, running from pillar to post like a madman, but I was enjoying myself because all I cared for was to keep fit. The next day, while I came and was playing alone in the field, Manbo, Atume and others who were not disgruntled during the crisis but had to leave because there was no ball for them to play, started returning in handfuls from their voyage to join us.
VoiceSports: How do you feel when you see the association in this state of rapid development?
Agada: Total joy because almost all the members that left, have come back to the Coaches Association after more than fifteen years of sojourn with the All Stars FC of Makurdi, and with confessional statements. Now I can proudly state here without distorting any fact, fear or favour that I single-handed revived the NFCA, which would have been in extinction in the state. This was made possible because of keeping faith in God. Today, the association has well over a hundred members with about three sets that are fielded in every Saturday’s, training sessions.
VoiceSports: Could that be the reason they made you Patron of the association?
Agada: Of course that singular act of keeping faith in God and reviving the association according to them, was enough to bestow such a befitting honour on me. It all happened one day, when the Chairman, DSP Yakubu Manbo (retd) who was the longest serving Chairman of the association, in his wisdom, along with the late Secretary, Tom Ichull and Atume Hanmba in one of their EXCO meetings invited me to join them which I honoured and the Chairman, broke the good news to me that, “sir, we can’t pay you enough for all that you have done and have been doing for the Association. Therefore, by the power invested in me and in the presence of the entire EXCO members I induct you as the first Patron of the NFCA Benue State Chapter. In addition, we want to continue to thank you for your resilience, doggedness and unwavering commitment to ensuring revival of the association”. That honour gave me more responsibility and commitment to improving the fortunes of the NFCA in the state.
VoiceSports: Were you able to do it?
Agada: Very well. I have had the privilege of inviting the former Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, Dr Mathias Oyigeya, while he was still in office. He was inducted as one of the Patrons and he contributed immensely to the development of the association, I brought a former Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, BSHA, Hon Frank Igbe who was then serving and he did the best he could as well. One very significant thing which I did for the association and its memories I will not forget in a hurry was in 2014, when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. This affected all schools in the country. Visitors were not allowed into boarding schools for activities but we were still training at the Government College Makurdi, until one day, a visitor walked in and gave a student marijuana. When the student was caught smoking, they alleged that it was a coach that delivered it to him and by this they banned us from training at the school. But as God would have it, I met the then P S Government House Administration, Tivlumun Nyitse and he intervened on behalf of the coaches who signed a bond and were the only team that was allowed to train at the GCM.
VoiceSports: In a nutshell, how do you treat any issue that concerns the NFCA?
Agada: I treat any issue concerning the coaches with utmost passion because it gives me joy when I have the opportunity to meet with others. Life is not about yourself but inter-personal relationships which is very important in life and it gives you more grace to push on livelier.
VoiceSports: How did you also become Patron of the Benue State Council of the Nigeria Referees?
Agada: The Referees always come to officiate at the end of the month match, played by the coaches, which I initiated and when they come they see how coordinated the coaches are courtesy of their father figure in me and I relate very well with them and how they also wished they had such a father who would direct them on what and where necessary. That was why they agreed to inaugurate me as their Patron.
VoiceSports: How do you see the Referees?
Agada: I see them the way I see the coaches, they are also my children just as the coaches and I can do everything within my power to see that they overcome whatever that is their problem just as I do for the coaches and I equally love them the way I love the coaches. They are also coaches and they study the rules of football while the coaches study, play football and direct the players on the touch line. Some of them like, Margaret Aku have now joined the coaches association.
VoiceSports: How do the two bodies relate now?
Agada: Very well. Infact, there was a case of disrespect to the referees by the coaches which was reported to me and to the glory of God, I summoned both bodies for a meeting and the issue was peacefully resolved. Since then, the two bodies have been moving along with love, peace and unity.
VoiceSports: Is the government promoting sports as it is expected?
Agada: The Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia is a reliable index of sports development. He is doing a lot to invest in the youths and by doing so, he is taking them off the streets and committing them into programmes of great importance. By the time the Aper Aku Stadium is completed, Benue will be hosting national and international events in sports and sporting activities will also take the centre stage in the state and Nigeria at large. I personally call him the Roadmaster, because of his developmental strides and by the time he is through with construction of all the roads, that is when the whole world will see the true picture of how a state capital is supposed to look. That is why I am always praying for him to succeed because I am enjoying it.
VoiceSports: How do you wish to be remembered, in the NFCA?
Agada: I wish to be remembered as the man who contributed selflessly to the growth and development of the association, the man who revived the association, the man whose passion and love for the association grew from strength to strength and the man who ensured that peace, unity, love and friendliness took the centre stage in the association.
