Dear Ayo, How are you, with Funke and the children? I pray that this letter meets you in good condition of health and happiness. Happiness surely has to be the word describing your condition, because you celebrated your birthday on Friday (July 26th, 2024). That was the day you clocked 41 on Mother Earth. Glory be to God, not just for keeping you alive, hale, hearty and able, but for the fact that you have grown into a world-renowned football agent and players’ representative. Sadly, I forgot to wish you a happy birthday at the right time. I must confess that I only joined the band wagon when I saw a message from Johnny Edward on Facebook. Please forgive me for my level of forgetfulness. So sad that I have forgotten how you and other kids used to gather at my home in Lagos every July 3rd to celebrate my birthday with me. There was a year you guys even contributed money to design a customised wall clock and frame for me as a birthday gift. Those were the years when you all exuded the innocence of childhood. O, how I remember the days you rushed home from school at Obele Odan along Randle Avenue, Surulere, Lagos …. to quickly change and run out for training at the National Stadium with Sunday Frank Daniel’s club. Such memories your 41st birthday brought back to me. Memories of how Ademola Adesanmi brought you to me at the office of Complete Sports in 1996, how you took me to meet Alhaji Agboola Dabiri in 1999, how Mark Ogagan took you to Jomo Cosmos FC of South Africa with Charlibe Okolie in 2000 and how Barrister Churchill Oliseh gave you the Golden Fleece at AC Regianna of Italy in 2001. O, such fond memories, as if they happened only yesterday. Memories of how you ended up playing for 10 different Italian clubs, which is still today the highest by any Nigerian footballer.
You became the first product of National Grassroots Dream Team to play for the Super Eagles, and you scored two goals for Nigeria … the first of which came on your debut against South Africa during Nelson Mandela Cup 2004 in Jo’Burg. You even played at two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations (2006 and 2008). Such a glorious football career you had. When you eventually decided to hang your boots, I was the first person you told. It was a day you invited me over to your home at Omole Estate personally and you used it to show me how you had decided to start out as a players’ agent, and a tender product of National Grassroots Dream Team, Ezekiel Henry (Henty), who I met at your home that day, was your first client. O, such fond memories of days past. Memories of how you bought a special set of complete jerseys imported from Italy for National Grassroots Dream Team, how you once sent match bonuses for the players, paid for my house rent three years in a row and lots more. You even invited me over for a deal in Italy (but I gave it to Alhaji Agboola instead), then gave us an opening to travel to Austria for an annual youth football competition and you never forgot to attend the yearly reunion of Bros Femo Boys at my residence in Surulere every December 26th. O, such fond memories, yet I forgot your birthday on July 26, 2024. How could I have done that? What could have caused it? Shouldn’t I be scolded, smacked, or fined? How could I have forgotten to celebrate the biggest and brightest product of National Grassroots Dream Team?
How could I have forgotten a birthday that the whole of Nigeria would love to celebrate … about a man who has brokered deals for stars like Eddy Ogenyi Onazi, Simi Nwankwo, Stanley Anuzie, Ifeanyi Emeghara, Seseh Oliseh, Ezekiel Henty et al. A close pal of Kazeem Ayila, Sunday Stephen, Taye Taiwo and many more. What a star you are … how could anyone forget your birthday? Questions begging for answers, which only God and the hands of destiny can provide; but an adage says ‘out of sight is out of mind.’ That must explain why Bros Femo forgot to celebrate the most successful protégé that passed through him. That too should explain why both of us have shared phone calls only once in ten years, why we’ve never seen face to face in 13 years and why those wonderful aspirations we shared together when you were a kid have not materialised now that you are a man. Can I question the wind of time that blows us away from the innonce of our past? Can I call to question why memories fade away? No, I can’t. It’s part of our frailties as mortal beings. That’s why I can only relish memories of our forgotten happy days. And, as I recall our days of joy, all I have to say is: Happy Birthday To The Tiger Of Lagos, Stephen Ayodele Makinwa….
