An Evening with 1970s Super Eagles star defender and Shooting Stars legend, Idowu Otubusin aka Slow Poison.



Former Green Eagles defender, Idowu Otubusin (Slow Poison), told OLUFEMI ATOYEBI that he was so comfortable at his former club that he did not think of a better place to play…until a fan approached him and initiated the move.

In 1976, Idowu Otubusin broke a finger on his left hand during the early stage of the Africa Cup Winners Championship. It was a major injury he did not recover from until the end of the competition. His consolation was that his club, IICC Shooting Stars, won the title; the first club to achieve the feat in Nigeria.

He said, “A lot of people say strikers are prone to sustaining injuries but for defenders, the dangers are more.

“I broke my finger during the Cup Winners Cup competition and it was tough for me. I would put on the Plaster of Paris in training and remove it just before a match. It was the most painful injury I sustained in my career and I played matches in pain.”

He had a rough experience learning the game on the streets of Lagos, playing for youth clubs in Ebute Meta and Shomolu, but he soon had a breakthrough, when one of the big clubs on the Lagos Island approached him.

“I started playing football in Lagos. I actually grew up in Ebute Metta part of Lagos and I also lived in Shomolu for a few years. I played youth football with Olaleye Football Club and Muri International. It started as street soccer when we used a rubber ball called felele,” the former Green Eagles defender narrated.

“But I graduated quickly to play in big clubs. We normally played at Igbobi Orthopedic Hospital football pitch and that was where I was picked to play for Niger Pool.”

Life was slow at the time and challenges hardly came. For a young man approaching his 20th birthday, there was little demand from relatives and friends, so what the club offered him was sufficient for a modest living.
But his earning was not commensurate with his talent. And despite this, young Otubusin was content with his life’s progress in Niger Pool.

He was a regular feature in the team, respected by coaches and owners of the club and probably one of the highest earners in the team. Despite pressure from other big clubs in Nigeria, the big defender gave his words to his club supporters, promising to serve them for life.

But the unpredictable nature of ambition and promise of a better package, made it difficult for him to sustain resistance to temptation. After shunning calls by Stationery Stores to join them in 1973, the lure of moving to Ibadan the following year was overwhelming.

IICC Shooting Stars had a group of top stars at the time but some of them were at the tail end of their career calling for gradual replacement. Otubusin was a target of the club. and he gave an account of his move.

“In 1974, I moved to Ibadan to play for IICC. I arrived the same time with Segun Odegbami, who came from Housing Corporation. We met Niyi Akande, Sam Ashante, Philip Boamah, Nathaniel Adewole, Sam Ojebode, Sam Saka, Zion Ogunfeyimi, Yomi Bamiro and Kafaru Alabi at the club. Moses Otolorin and Mudashiru Lawal joined us later while Josy Lad and Rafiu Salami were coaches at the time.

“I did not just leave my club in Lagos, in fact, I did not want to leave Niger Pool, but there was pressure for me to join Stationery Stores and ACB, which I resisted. Then I was approached by a strong IICC supporter, Mr. Adeosun, who said he could facilitate my move to Ibadan, so he introduced me to the late Lekan Salami. I did not join another club after that.

“In those days, players in the team were friends. We moved together, visited ourselves, shared love and even pains. Nobody thought of leaving the club. On the pitch, we played for ourselves. I played in the defence but when I moved forward, a striker could move back to cover for me. We were like a big family unlike today when players fight themselves in clubs. Our captain was Sam Ojebode and he was such a wonderful leader.”

He did not regret the move after all. The defender, nick-named slow poison by friends, said the club’s desperation to be the best in the country at the time brought joy to the players.

He said, “The players needed not buy most things because IICC provided everything for us. We would move to camp three days before a league match and spend weeks outside the country during preparation for CAF competitions, especially during the Winners Cup that we won in 1976.

“I cannot remember precisely the highest income I received from the club, but I remember that I never lacked. There was no sign on fees and our salary was determined by the civil service salary scale structure; but the money was good, so nobody was complaining. Match bonus was paid promptly and it was reviewed regularly.”

Otubusin explained the reason behind the name-slow poison.
“The nick-name – slow poison was given to me by friends in Shomolu, Lagos. I was a striker then. My friends and the coach said I played slowly but once I reached the opponents area, I delivered a lethal strike.

“Before I could protest, most people had forgotten my real name and started calling me slow poison. Coach Anthony Obi of Lagos State Sports Council, who worked with Niger Pool converted me to a defender when I joined the club. He said my height and calmness on the ball were features he would like his defender to possess.”

Otubusin also talked about the prevailing tradition in IICC, where individual life achievement brought oneness to the group. After purchasing a brand new car in 1976, his first major property bought with money from football, the camp went alive as teammates went in search of car dealers.

“In 1976, I bought a Peugeot 504 and soon after, Moses Otolorin bought his own too. Others also did the same. Some bought theirs before us. We were all doing well with no thought of travelling abroad to play football. At least, we could afford what we needed. When someone did something great, the rest of the team would emulate him.”

With every player looking forward to playing for the national team, Otubusin effortlessly walked into the squad, profiting from a programme designed by the country’s football federation to develop the game at the grassroots.

He said, “In the early 1970s, Nigeria employed seven coaches from Yugoslavia and put six of them in charge of football development in the six zones of the country. The last one was placed in the centre. John Rocky worked in the South-West zone, so he picked me to play in the national team. We were so many and we had our training camp in Lagos. I made the team with some other players from IICC also.”

He recounted his relationship with a younger Godwin Odiye, known for scoring an own goal against Tunisia, which stopped Nigeria from reaching the finals of the World Cup in 1978.
“Odiye was a funny character but a strong defender. We were friends from Lagos and he met me in the camp. He was always coming to me for advice and when he made the national team eventually, I was happy to support him.”

Otubusin played in many great games for club and country and gave an account of two memorable experience.
“The strongest opponents I played against were Rokana United of Zambia in the quarterfinals of the Winners Cup. We beat them 3-2 in Nigeria and they said we should expect a tough game in Zambia. They left Nigeria jubilating, thinking they would run over us in the second leg. To be sincere, they were very good.

“They had great players who gave us problems. But we stunned them in Zambia, with a 1-1 score line. After the match, they hosted us and said we should go ahead and win the cup because we deserved the trophy. Truly, we went on to win it.
“As a defender with the national team, the toughest opponent I faced was Morocco. They were the best at the time.”

The former defender is still involved in football. Having decided to make Ibadan his home, he is looking forward to working with kids, with the hope of moulding their future.

“I am setting up a football academy in Ibadan. I am an Ijebu man from Ogun State, but I have settled in Ibadan since 1974 and it has become my home. The academy is in the town and it is my aim to give back something to the society that made me.”

After helping the club to win the league title, the FA Cup and Winners Cup, Otubusin is sad that the club he left in good health was now suffering. He applauded the decision of Oyo State Government to disband the club on Tuesday.

“The action was normal and good for the club because it must be repositioned. Shooting Stars needed to be reorganised if they were to compete among the top division clubs,” he said.

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