When An Olympic Gold Medalist’s Teammates Learned He Became A Bus Driver, His Story Left Them Shaken

In fact Obiekwu still has an active role in soccer, managing Ingas Football & Sports Club which plays in Nigeria’s Nationwide League One. But the money he earns from that is not enough to keep body and soul together. And football fans were shocked to learn that Obiekwu had been forced to take a job as a bus driver in his hometown of Enugu to make ends meet.

Obiekwu spoke to Goal website in February 2022 about the revelation of his difficult circumstances, a development which had shocked Nigeria’s soccer world to its core. “The story is absolutely true, there is no lie about it. I had to open up on my situation to people because I needed help,” said the Olympic star. 

“It was not an easy thing to do,” Obiekwu admitted, “but I had to summon very great courage because things are very tough.” He went on to explain his situation, “The club I manage is Ingas, and we don’t train every day — we train Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m always free and I use those days to go for my transport business.”

Driving a bus was certainly a long way from the epic story of Nigeria’s 1996 Olympic win. But that victory had not just come from nowhere. Over the course of nearly a century, soccer had become Nigeria’s most popular sport. The country was introduced to association football in the early 20th century by the British.

At that time Nigeria was still part of the British Empire, as it remained until independence in 1960. In fact, the development of soccer went hand in hand with the political aspirations of Nigerians during the first half of the 20th century. Sport was blighted by racial discrimination and Nigerians formed their own clubs in response. 

So for Nigerians soccer wasn’t just a sport — it was inextricably linked to their national identity. In fact in 1960 — the year independence came — one of the first things the nation did was to join FIFA, the world body that governs soccer and runs the sport’s premier competition, the World Cup. But it was in the Olympics, not the World Cup, that Nigeria came to prominence. 

In the years before 1996, it’s fair to say that Nigeria’s record in Olympic soccer was far from illustrious. Their first appearance came in 1968 when Mexico City hosted the games. That year the Nigerian team finished a lowly 14th. Nigeria didn’t compete at the Olympics again until 1980, when they took 13th place in Moscow. 

In Nigeria’s last appearance in the Olympic soccer competition before they won in 1996, the team finished in 15th place in 1988 in Seoul. So on the evidence of previous performances there was little to suggest that the Super Eagles would achieve a stunning success in Georgia. The fact that no African team had ever won soccer gold tended to confirm the suspicion that the Nigerians were no-hopers.

That’s not to say the Super Eagles had tasted no success at all — the team had come out top in regional African competitions. In 1994, they beat Zambia 2-1 in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, although Obiekwu had not been in the squad in that competition. Actually it was the second time they’d won that hotly contested tournament, having come out champions in 1980 too.

But the Nigerians were yet to make a name for themselves on the international stage although they were not completely anonymous thanks to their performance in the FIFA World Cup of 1994. That was the one and only time the U.S. has hosted the competition. American soccer fans will be glad to hear it’s scheduled to come back to the States in 2026. 

But in that 1994 World Cup, the Super Eagles only made it as far as the final 16, a long way from taking the title. Italy broke Nigerian hearts in that match. At full-time, the score was a 1-1 draw. As it was a knock-out round, the game moved into extra time. Italy scored via a penalty and so took the match. 

Italy went on to the World Cup final, where Brazil beat them in a penalty shoot-out after playing time ended in a nil-all stalemate. So Nigeria’s close defeat by the Italians was certainly a creditable performance. But despite that Obiekwu and his team mates did not receive the support they might have hoped for from their own country in the run-up to the 1996 Olympics.

Unfortunately, Nigeria’s sometimes turbulent politics intervened at a time when the Super Eagles should have been concentrating 100 percent on preparation for the upcoming Olympics. Under the harsh rule of military dictator General Sani Abacha, ethnic division and chaos were the order of the day in many aspects of national life, including soccer. 

For Obiekwu and the other Super Eagles players the 1996 African Cup of Nations in South Africa should have been a key opportunity for the team to gel. It was scheduled for just six months before the Olympics were due to kick off. But in a display of dictatorial caprice, Abacha ordered the national team to withdraw from the cup.

The Super Eagles had no choice but to accept the General’s diktat, despite the fact they’d won the African Cup of the Nations just two years earlier. Years later in 2021 one of the top Nigerian players from the 1990s, Victor Ikpeba, talked to Time magazine. He described the frustration and disappointment felt by the team at the time.

As Ikpeba put it, “Political decisions are made, and when it’s done, it’s done and dusted. It was just a waste of opportunity, because it was a generation of great players we had there, and we couldn’t defend our title.” So by the time of the Olympics, the Super Eagles had been denied what would have been an ideal preparation.

And for the Super Eagles players that was far from the end of their woes in the run-up to the Atlanta Olympics. Principal among their tormentors were the very people who should have been offering unconditional support, the suits of the Nigerian Football Association. According to Time, they had essentially appeared to be intent on sabotaging their own national team. 

Another player from the gold-winning Nigerian Olympic team, Sunday Oliseh, described the difficulties players faced in his 2021 book Audacity to Refuse. “Believe me, in my whole career as a soccer player, I think we’ve never had it so difficult to prepare for a tournament. We practically lacked in everything,” Oliseh wrote. 

“We lacked in equipment, infrastructure, we lacked even in things as little as medical facilities.” Oliseh added. “We lacked in food, we lacked in everything, so we were just like abandoned children.” On occasion, players even had to use their own money to pay for transport, hotels and other essentials.

After this nightmarish experience, winning gold at the Olympics was hardly on the Nigerian players’ minds. They were just happy to be in the tournament. Sixteen teams had qualified for a place in the competition. In the first part of it the sides were dived into groups of four, each playing the other three in their section in a kind of mini-league. 

The top two teams from each group would go forward to the quarter finals. Talking to Time, player Emmanuel Amunike described the team’s attitude. “There was a confidence in the team that we do the needful, if we can play as a team, then there’s a possibility of… achieving something meaningful. But we never thought we were going to win the gold.”

The three other teams in Nigeria’s group were Hungary, Japan and Brazil. Things got off to a decent start with a 1-0 victory over Hungary in Orlando. The team’s success then continued with a 2-0 win over Japan. Finally they met footballing giants Brazil, who beat them 1-0. But Obiekwu and his team mates had done enough to get through to the quarter finals. 

So they’d achieved their first goal — passage to the quarters. Now the Super Eagles faced Mexico. They won 2-0 and were in the semi-finals! But their opponents were Brazil, the team that had already beaten them in a group game. And the semifinal turned out to be a nail-biting affair that almost slipped through the fingers of the Nigerians. 

By half-time, the score was 3-1 in Brazil’s favor with the Super Eagle’s single score coming from an own-goal. Things looked up when Nigeria won a penalty in the second half — but the Brazilian keeper saved it. Still, the Super Eagles weren’t ready to admit defeat yet. Their tenacity paid off with a stunning 78th minute goal, a 20-yard shot from striker Victor Ikpeba.

Now just a single goal separated the teams. Then in the final seconds of the normal 90 minutes of play, after a chaotic goalmouth scramble, Nwankwo Kanu put in a third goal for the Super Eagles. It was 3-3, so the game would go into extra time. That was played under what’s known as the “golden goal”, or sudden-death rule. The first team to score would be the winners. 

The golden goal came in the 94th minute of play. From the edge of the box Kanu loosed a screaming shot that smashed into the back of the Brazilian net. Obiekwu and the Super Eagles were through to the final of the Olympic soccer tournament! Argentina had overcome Portugal 2-0 the previous day in the other semi-final, so they would be Nigeria’s opponents.

Remembering the semi-final in Time, Nigerian winger Amunike said, “When we defeated them, it was kind of a big shock to the whole world and to Brazilians, but we had good players. Kanu was so exceptional with a whole lot of talent… but we had a team where we were… disciplined enough to play as a team, not individually.”

All that remained between the Super Eagles and gold was the Argentinean team — a formidable prospect. It turned out to be another classic match, packed with high sporting drama. The Argentineans scored early with a goal from the head of Claudio Lopez. But by half-time the Super Eagles had drawn level thanks to a header from defender Celestine Babayaro. 

Just a few minutes after the ref blew to start the second half, the Super Eagles conceded a penalty and Herman Crespo knocked it in, so it was 2-1 to Argentina. But a Nigerian equalizer came in the 74th minute from Daniel Amokachi. With just a minute left in regular time, extra time beckoned. It wasn’t needed because Amunike scored to give the match and Olympic gold to Nigeria.

The FIFA website quoted the words of Super Eagle Sunday Oliseh. “I guarantee you that as I talk to you now, everyone in Africa is celebrating," the elated player said. "There is no sleeping tonight. Everyone will be happy. This is for all the African countries.”The Nigerian team had guaranteed their place in footballing legend.

Certainly fame and fortune followed for some of the players. Kanu, for example, went on to play for various top European teams including English side Arsenal. But what of our man Kingsley Obiekwu, aged just 21 at the time of the Olympic win? Sadly the road ahead for him came complete with some hard knocks.

True, Obiekwu had signed a contract with Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles just before the Olympics. He traveled to the Netherlands the year after his gold medal win. But a routine medical check revealed a worrisome truth. The young Nigerian had a medical condition which would cast a shadow over the rest of his playing career.

Speaking to Goal website in February 2022, Obiekwu revealed the health problem that would dog him for the rest of his life. “Every man has his secret,” he admitted. “When I went to the Netherlands in 1995, it was discovered after my medicals that I had enlargement of the heart, before that, that limited me from going higher.” 

His match time at the Dutch side was now seriously curtailed. As Obiekwu explained, “I was not a regular, I come in as a substitute, but when I am in, I give a very good account of myself. So many teams wanted to sign me but my club never wanted to disclose the situation, so they will scare them off with very high transfer fees.”

Obiekwu continued, “When my contract expired after three-and-a-half years, I had to go to the United Arab Emirates because their medical apparatus was not sophisticated.” At the end of his less-than-stellar time in the Netherlands, the Nigerian went to Dubai where he played for Al Ahli. 

After that, Obiekwu returned to Nigeria where he played for Enugu Rangers. Then there was a spell with Egyptian side Al Masry before he returned to Enugu Rangers. As well as his heart condition, injury hampered his career. “Also, I had a knee injury that really slowed me down and I had to stop professional football at the age of 30,” Obiekwu recalled.

Then tragedy struck in 2017. Obiekwu’s younger brother Henry was also a soccer player, appearing for Enugu Rangers at full back. Henry was playing in a friendly game in Enugu when he collapsed on the pitch with excruciating chest pain. He was rushed to hospital but the medics could do nothing for him: he was dead.

Fast-forward to 2022 and Obiekwu’s financial situation was so dire that he went public with his plight. Once he had done so, there was an explosion of sympathy on social media for this gold-medal winner, still remembered fondly by Nigerians as a footballing titan. And on hearing his plight — reduced to driving a bus — many were keen to help.

“I had to summon great courage to cry out for help” Obiekwu told Goal website. Happily, his plea was not in vain. “On Wednesday, [Super Eagles] captain Ahmed Musa sent me 2 million naira [about $4,800] after hearing my story. This means a big deal to me, and I am very thankful for his show of love,” a grateful Obiekwu said. He added, “This is a pointer that there are good Nigerians everywhere who are willing to help.”