DIMEJI LAWAL was the lightning-quick dashing winger who terrorised defenders in the 1980s with Nigerian youth teams to FIFA competitions and even at club level first with Femo Scorpions and later with Julius Berger.
Kabongo holds a distinctive record as Nigeria’s first player on the books of Real Madrid but there’s more to the career of this dribbling wizard than just speed and crosses…….
It was the final match of the 1987 FIFA U-17 championship and scoreline was still a delicate 1-1 between Nigeria and the USSR. When it seemed as if the game was heading for an inevitable extra time, the Nigerian winger, spotting the jersey number 9 for the Nigerian team decided to take matters into his own hands.
Receiving the ball from just inside the halfway line, he waltzed through a sea of bodies and legs trying desperately to hack him down, jumping one tackle while evading another stretched leg until he was face to face with the Soviet goalkeeper and half the spectators inside the stadium up on their toes ready to salute a replica of the amazing goal Diego Maradona had scored against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. As he positioned his right leg to strike the ball into the net, he was rudely interrupted by the shrill sound of the referee’s whistle. What happened?
Referee José RAMIZ WRIGHT, a Brazilian, decided in his wisdom that there had been an infringement against Lawal in his run to the penalty box and instead of allowing play to continue since the player was still in possession of the ball and in a position to score, called for a foul and, to the amazement of everyone in the stadium and those watching live across the globe, he took the ball and counted 10 metres outside the penalty area for the foul to be played.
Football legend Pele, who was in the stadium, left in annoyance at the blatant injustice and open show of bias, if not racism displayed by his countryman. Eventually, the game went into extra time and penalties which the Nigerian lads lost 4-5. Television images around the world showed the Nigerian no.9 weeping and being consoled by officials and teammates while the Soviets did a lap of honour with their trophy. That no.9 was Oladimeji Mohammed Lawal or ‘Dimeji Lawal as he was to be later known around the world. He had forcefully thrust himself into global consciousness and would refuse to be ignored for as long as his talent will speak for him. Nigeria, winners of the inaugural edition in 1985, ended with the runners-up medal but the legend of ’Dimeji Lawal, new kid on the block and future star of Nigerian football had been born. The world, as they say, was at his feet. Especially the magical right foot.
The fruit, they say, doesn’t fall too far from the tree. So it is with Oladimeji Mohammed Lawal, the lightening quick right-winger who made his name in the 1980s with Nigeria’s youth teams, winning personal and team honours in FIFA competitions from Canada in 1987 to Saudi Arabia in 1989.
Born into a sporting family, it was only natural that he should take to sports and, for sure, parental support for his choice of career was not lacking.
He recalls: “My father played football and my mother was an athlete who represented the then Western Nigeria at several competitions. So it was just natural for me and my siblings to take to sports. Needless to say, we had the blessings and support of our parents. They only insisted that football should not interfere with our academics and as long as we can balance the two, they gave their support and advice every inch of the way.”
Born in Ibadan, Oyo State, he attended Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) Primary School and Prospect High School, Abanla (where he was schoolmates with future Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju) for secondary education. His next port of call was the famous Ibadan Grammar School where he did his Higher School Certificate. Although his talent was obvious at Prospect High School, it was at the famous Ibadan Grammar School that he came into his own right as an electrifying winger with unbelievable dribbling skills. Smallish in stature but big in talent, he not only made the star-studded Oyo state Academicals team, he also captained them to win the Manuwa Adebajo Cup for All Nigeria Secondary Schools in 1984. His teammates then, he recalled, included Tunde Odubola a.k.a Zico (ex-3SC of Ibadan coach), Tunde Adeshina (junior brother of ex-Super Eagles midfielder Ademola Adeshina), and Bella Momoh (member of the victorious 1985 Golden Eaglets squad).
Away from the Academicals, Lawal played club football with the CRIN football team because he grew up within the staff quarters of the Research Institute. Having seen his worth rise exponentially, he moved to Adegoke Football Club under the tutelage of coach Idowu Otubusin (ex-IICC star popularly called Slow Poison). He was with them for one year before the bigger and better-paying Femo Scorpions of Eruwa, which had Adepoju and Peter Rufai on their roster at different times came calling for his signature.
In between his exploits with the Academicals and playing club football, he passed his Higher School Certificate exams and was able to secure admission to the University of Ibadan where he became an automatic choice for the school team that was preparing for the NUGA Games.
1986 was to be a watershed year for Lawal. He was basking in the euphoria of having won the Manuwa Adebajo Cup for Oyo State, celebrating his transfer to Femo Scorpion which represented an upward movement in his career, trying to cope with academic demands as a result of his university admission and, to cap an eventful year, excited with his invitation to the national under-17 team.
Recalling how his invitation came about, he said: “ We were drawn mainly from Academicals although there were players selected from other competitions as well as those who were still within the age limit from the 1985 set. From that group, Fatai Atere and Tonworimi Duere were drafted in while we all jostled to make the final cut. We did not have to lobby anybody to get into the team.
In my case, I just got a letter from the Oyo state sports council that I’d been invited for trials and I was directed to move to camp in Lagos. I eventually made the team to the World Cup in Canada. It was the first time of travelling out of the country for most of us and so it was an adventure as well as an assignment for us. We were shot full of confidence however, due to the fact that Nigeria was the defending champions as well as because of the talent in our squad.”
In Canada, the Nigerian lads battled through tough oppositions who were by then wary of what the Africans are capable of doing so, for Lawal, there was no easy game on the way to a second successive final appearance. “Every game was like a final for us but the semi-final against Italy was arguably the toughest of the lot, perhaps tougher than the final itself. We won 1-0 but the Italian no.11 Massimiliano Capellini was something else on the day. He was all over the pitch and ran our defences ragged, initiating attack after attack. We gave as much as we got in the game and I was picked as the Man of the Match at the end of the game so that should tell you that we also played very well but I won’t forget that game for a long time.”
Then came the final and the attendant controversy which cast a shadow on the competition. Though they ended as runners-up, the Eaglets came back home and got due recognition as heroes. On arrival from Canada, Lawal went back to Femo Scorpions but he was by then a prized asset and his days numbered with the Eruwa outfit. Julius Berger of Lagos came calling and made an offer that was irresistible. Making the short trip from Eruwa to Lagos became a formality and he teamed up with the Adewale Bridge Boys seamlessly.
His performances for Berger continued to impress and, when the team for the U-20 World Cup was being put together, his was one of the names pencilled down for invitation. He got a letter asking him to report to the Flying Eagles camp in preparation for the African qualifiers of the 1989 World Youth Championship scheduled to hold in Saudi Arabia. The crack squad put together by coaches Tunde Disu and Kelechi Emeteole swept away every opposition on the way to the World Cup proper and duly got crowned as African champions.
In Saudi Arabia, Lawal was a prominent figure, playing every single minute of all the Flying Eagles games bar the last seven minutes against Portugal during the group stages, as they qualified behind the Portuguese which pitched them against the USSR, the same foes who had ‘robbed’ him and his teammates of glory at the U-17 final barely two years earlier.
In the Nigerian squad were nine members of the 1987 Golden Eaglets namely Dimeji Lawal, Angus Ikeji, Taiwo Enegwea, Oladuni Oyekale, Anthony Emoedofu, Peter Ogaba, Christopher Nwosu, Bawa Abdullahi and Philip Osondu while the USSR brought six members of their own U-17 team such as Arif Asadov, Serhiy Bezhenar, Yuri Moroz, Oleg Matveev, Mirjalal Kasimov and Yuri Nikiforov who had scored against Nigeria in the final in Canada.
So, Lawal and his teammates reasoned, the perfect setting for revenge was set. But things did not go according to plan.
“We were spoiling for a good fight and to avenge our loss in Canada but before we knew what was going on, we were already four goals down within 60minutes. The implication was that we had less than 30 minutes to either turn things around or pack our bags and head for home. Though we were four goals down, our heads never dropped because we knew it was not because we were not playing well. Luckily, our efforts paid off and we were able to equalize and eventually beat the Soviets on penalties. It was not exactly the way we planned it but it was sweet revenge that we beat them on penalties. To put icing on the cake, their players were crying while we were celebrating which was the opposite of what happened in Canada where I was crying while they celebrated. The feeling was indescribable.”
After Saudi ’89, he came back to Berger although his performances at the WYC had caught the eye of scouts of Spain’s Real Madrid and he’d signed a pre-contract with them while still at the World Cup. So even though he was training with Berger, he did not play any game for them within that period and finally left for Spain about a month after coming back from Saudi Arabia.
That contract effectively made him the first Nigerian to sign for Real Madrid but, because of the galaxy of stars at the Santiago Bernabeu, Lawal was unable to tie down a regular shirt so he decided to move on after three seasons. He moved to Belgium and signed for Kortrijk, the club which had Austin Eguavoen as captain of the team at that time, and played for two seasons with them before he got injured.
Despite this setback, Dimeji made his senior debut for the Super Eagles in 1990 during a Senegal ’92 AFCON qualifier in Lagos. The game was against Togo and he was among the scorers in the 3-0 win. If he thought he’d cemented his place in the senior team with that scoring debut, Dimeji was in for a shocker as he did not get another look in. This period coincided with his injury so it could be argued that he was not called up because he was not fit, not because he was not good enough.
On the advice of his doctors, he needed to stay out of the cold so he made a decision to leave the chilly weather of Europe for somewhere warm and sunny. Thus he landed in South Africa, a country just coming out of years of isolation due to the apartheid regime. He settled for Hellenic of Cape Town and played one season there before going back to Kortrijk in 1994 but he suffered a relapse of the old injury and thus was unable to play for the Belgian side again.
He came back to Nigeria to seek a permanent solution to the nagging injury and was advised to sign for a club in the domestic league.
“That was how I teamed up with BCC Lions of Gboko where I spent two seasons and was involved in their continental campaigns. I left and went to 3SC who were then in the Pro League under Chief Adegboye Onigbinde and, with God’s help, we got promoted to the Nigerian Premier League. With promotion secured, I retired from active football.”
Even while still actively playing, Dimeji Lawal had always been interested in football management so it was easy to decide on what he wanted to do next. He took the FIFA Players’ Agents examination and was duly licensed to manage players.
w years but, as part of the desire to test his administrative acumen, he formed a football club, the All-Stars FC, to help players find their feet in the game. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the club but he employed two seasoned coaches to help in the technical aspects of running the team. The club is still flourishing in Ibadan till this day while Dimeji is still pursuing his football interest in another administrative capacity with one of Nigeria’s largest-supported football clubs.
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