Kashimawo Laloko: Exit of a talent developer

Till Chief Kashimawo Laloko breathed his last in the early hours of Sunday, March 28, he ate, drank, talked, and dreamed football. Indeed, football was his life.

Only a few Nigerians would say Laloko was not synonymous with football, and their ignorance would be pardoned.

Ironically, he was a super track athlete in his primary and secondary school days. But his quest to be an all-rounder would drive his interest in football which would eventually make him a renowned figure in Nigerian as well as African and world football. Once he caught the football bug soon after he graduated from the famous Abeokuta Grammar School, he would never look back again as it was then for him ‘football or nothing’.

But Laloko’s interest in football was beyond the ordinary. While others followed the sport fanatically or vociferously, he thought only about developing the next generation of footballers. Youth football became his forte! While he was a teacher in the early 1970s at the Baptist Academy, Lagos he also doubled as games master for the school but focused more on unearthing talent that he could nurture. But it was not until he arrived at St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos a few years later that his star began to shine after leading the school to glory in the then Lagos Principal’s Cup competition. By 1979 at the Oluyole National Sports Festival hosted by Oyo State, he had established himself firmly as a youth football coach after leading to gold medal the Lagos team that included Stephen Keshi and Raymond King, both of whom later played for the senior national team Super Eagles.

Laloko’s star continued to shine. He was soon snapped by Stationery Stores FC of Lagos. He was snapped up again by First Bank FC. Offers then came from up north where he pitched tent with Zamfara Textiles FC. From the east came another offer to coach Enyimba FC, after which he returned to the north to coach Wikki Tourists FC. International reckon followed soon after as The Gambia came calling. Aside from coaching the Gambia national team, he also helped the country draw a football structure that would be relevant thereafter and for which Gambian football authorities rever him to this day.

After the Gambian voyage, Laloko decided he had enough. He returned home in 1992 to establish his own football academy that would soon be known as Pepsi Football Academy after the beverage company leveraged on Laloko’s pedigree to bankroll the academy. It is to Laloko’s talent hunting prowess and stern discipline that the academy has flourished for nearly three decades, producing a number of top Nigerian footballers that include John Obi Mikel, Osaze Odemwingie, Obafemi Martins, Stephen Makinwa, Elderson Echiejile, and Sunday Mba.

Laloko had also been technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation from 1995 to 2000, during which a proper structure was drawn and adhered to by the football body,  particularly in discipline and professionalism. The tenacity with which he pursued his duties earned him a few friends among the administrators and footballers alike, however. But it nonetheless earned him the nickname ‘Firebrand’ which outlived his days at the NFF.

As a testimony to the whole football life that Laloko lived, he continued to offer his services to the Football House years after leaving the place officially, especially on technical matters that involve training and re-training of coaches. He also imparted his administrative expertise on the successive NFF hierarchy. Yet, the firebrand never held back in criticising the hierarchy when the situation called for it.

For all that Laloko did for Nigeria football, he would most likely be remembered for his patriotic act on the field of play at the National Stadium, Surulere Lagos venue of an Africa Cup of Nations 2000 quarterfinal game between Super Eagles and Teranga Lions of Senegal. The Senegalese had taken a fourth-minute lead in the encounter and although the Eagles bombarded the Lions for most of the first half in search of an equaliser, they failed to level scores. As play resumed in the second half, Laloko, who had sat on the sidelines all the while as the NFF’s technical director, had spotted the Senegalese keeper dropped a strange object in his goal post. He encroached on the pitch, faced up to the keeper, picked up the object, and flung it away all within a minute – to the shock of the keeper. It seemed the key to unlocking the gate to the Senegal goal post. Two goals followed for the Eagles in quick succession and the Lions found themselves losing the final ticket. Till this day, and perhaps forever, this singular courageous act of patriotism displayed by Laloko would remain in the hearts of Nigerian football fans at home and around the world. It mattered less to Laloko that CAF had banned him days after for six months “from all football-related activities” for encroaching on the field. “It’s my sacrifice for Nigeria,” he said after the CAF judgement was handed out to him. But he thereafter enjoyed reverence from the fans wherever he went and he felt fulfilled.

He was never tired of contributing to football development in Nigeria — until nature said ‘it’s enough’ on Sunday, March 28, 2021. Now he can earn his rest eternally.