Nicknamed “Mathematical,” Segun Odegbami is one of Nigeria’s sport heroes. He had an illustrious football career with Shooting Stars of Ibadan and the Nigerian Super Eagles. It is said that he calculates his every shots, freekicks and through balls. Segun Odegbami is also a politician, a writer, a newspaper columnist whose articles have appeared on The Vanguard, Tribune, Complete Sports et al.

WHO IS SEGUN ODEGBAMI?

Patrick Olusegun Odegbami is considered one of greatest Nigerians to set foot on ball. He was born on August 27, 1952 in Abeokuta to Pa. Jacob Adebola Odegbami and Madam Beatrice Bintu Abeke Odegbami. His father was a retired Nigerian Railway worker; and his mum was a successful and very popular trader. They both hailed from Wasinmi Community in Ogun State.

EARLY YEARS OF SEGUN ODEGBAMI.

Birthed in Lagos, Segun Ode grew up in Jos, Plateau State. In the late 60s, he starred as a member of the all-conquering Western State Academicals, then onto NTC FC, WNTV/WNBS FC, Housing of Ibadan FC. Later, Segun joined the popular Shooting Stars of Ibadan in 1970, where he would end his illustrious career 14 years later.

CALL-UP TO THE NATIONAL TEAM.

While he was playing for Shooting Stars, Segun shot himself into true stardom and attracted national attention; earning instant call up to the senior national team as a 22-year-old in 1974. However, he did not play for the Super Eagles until 1976, making his debut against Sierra Leone.

GET HIM A NICKNAME!

Segun Odegbami attended and graduated from Nigeria’s Premier Technical Institution, The Polytechnic, Ibadan where he studied Engineering. When he got popular on pitch, Segun Odegbami was nicknamed “Mathematical” partly because of his course of study and partly because of his speed and sprints on the right wing.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF SEGUN ODEGBAMI IN THE FOOTBALL WORLD.

1. Nigerian Premier League Winner.

Odegbami won the Nigerian Premier League with Shooting Stars in 1976, 1980 and 1983.

2. Nigerian FA Cup Winner.

He also won the Nigerian FA Cup with the club in 1977 and 1979.

3. AFCON Top Goalscorer.

In the 1978 and 1980 African Cup of Nations’ edition, Big Seg won the award as the highest-scoring player with 6 goals and 3 goals respectively. In the final match of the 1980 edition of the African Cup of Nations, Odegbami bagged a brace against Algeria. Ultimately, he was featured in the Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament in 1980.

4. Super Eagles Captain.

In 1980, Segun also captained the Eagles to the Olympics in Moscow. Segun scored 23 goals for the Nigeria national team in 46 caps.

5. Runner-up, African Footballer of the Year.

In 1978, after a sensational run, Odegbami finished as the African Footballer of the year runner-up behind Ghana’s . He had won a silver medal at the All-Africa Games with the Nigeria national team, and finished as the top scorer in the AFCON that year.

6. Member of the Order of the Niger.

The 1980 AfCON victory earned him the prestigious National Award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON).

AND THE TALISMAN RETIRES..

Segun Odegbami went on to establish himself as the poster boy of the Super Eagles until October 30, 1981 when he made his last appearance in a 2-1 home loss to Algeria. He continued playing for the Shooting Stars till 1984 when he finally retired. Reportedly, Odegbami was still at his football best but had to consider early retirement owing to a “recurring” knee injury.

Since quitting active football, he has been a newspaper columnist, writer, publisher, television producer, sports school proprietor, actor, track and field athlete manager, football administrator, national team manager and much more… making a success of all.

ODEGBAMI IS SET ON MAKING IMPACTS.

Segun Odegbami founded Nigeria’s first wholly private sports show on television, Saturday Sports Special, in the early nineties where he dished quality entertainment on this show. He would later feature young boys – Wole Opatola and Shina Okeleji. The former now runs a sports publishing and radio /tv production business in Benin, while the latter, is a leading producer at BBC World Service.

Again, in 2003, he founded Nigeria’s first multi-sports secondary school, Segun Odegbami International College & Sports Academy (SOCA) in Wasinmi, Ogun State. The school is an NGO aimed at providing subsidized education to students who are gifted in Sports, and are also ready to work very hard to attain high grades in their academics.

His latest brainchild, the Eagle 7 Sports Radio, is also on full throttle, blasting quality programmes through the airwaves from its Panseke, Abeokuta base to the entire South West and neighbouring cities.

HE COULD HAVE BEEN THE NFF PRESIDENT OR OGUN STATE GOVERNOR.

In 2015, Segun Odegbami made his intention of contesting for the seat of NFF president known, but eventually withdrew as he could not secure the required backing to make him a contestant. In an interview with DailyTrust, he was quoted:

“I intended to be FIFA president but the support was so little here in Nigeria that my plane didn’t even leave the tarmac of Abeokuta.”

In 2019, the Nigerian football legend contested for the Governor’s seat under the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), but did not win. According to ThePremiumTimes, Segun Odegbami strongly believes that the election was won by the highest bidder.

SEGUN ODEGBAMI IS A TALENTED WRITER (NO CAP).

Segun “Mathematical” Odegbami is a writer: a newspaper columnist and author. His articles have appeared in Vanguard, The Guardian, The Punch, Complete Sports and many more.

Segun Odegbami is also the author of the book – “Me, Football and More” – which is a quality selection of his media writings.

I will leave you with a quote of his:

Abdulbasit Toriola

Abdulbasit Toriola is a versatile freelance writer. On this blog, he writes keenly about Nigeria and Nigerians who are breaking the odds. You can connect with him via any of the links below.