Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. - Sports (3)

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Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. - Sports (3) - Nairaland

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Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by darkckUSA: 5:42pm On Jun 12, 2017

Vision2045:

Savage you are,.......lol

Lmao!

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by belindar: 5:44pm On Jun 12, 2017

jonero4:
This story too long, I no wan read am

I pity your life. You only come to these forum to read about Tonto Dike marriage problem, mercy Aigbe marriage palaver, pastors committed fornication and the downfall of others. Nothing educating interest you. You have a long way to go.

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Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Chinagurum1995(m): 5:49pm On Jun 12, 2017

Good times and good moments. cool

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Ishilove: 5:51pm On Jun 12, 2017

NwaAmaikpe:

It feels like yesterday....
Listening to martial music from my dad's transistor radio.

Then I heard.

Good day fellow Nigerians, I am Colonel Dimka, I bring to you good tidings....the hypocrisy of the Murtala Mohammed administration has been discovered.........

Gosh... When Nigeria was Nigeria

That was in 1976. Nigga, you're telling me you're above 40?

3 Likes

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by ddjay: 6:29pm On Jun 12, 2017

Vex don tire me tru tru,SEUN ABEG NAIRALAND SHOULD BE LIKE TWITTER IN TERMS OF IT'S SHORT TWEETS. People like can write and over write abeg.i bet u op 99% of nairalanders did not read up to 10% of what u wrote. Mcheeww

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by fergusen: 6:31pm On Jun 12, 2017

I just knew naptu2 must be the Op. Oga naptu2 I hail o. Nairaland's resident encyclopedia.

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by davekata: 6:40pm On Jun 12, 2017

Raise ur hand, if u read to the end!!

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by lyricalpontiff(m): 7:03pm On Jun 12, 2017

Good for history

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Nobody: 7:05pm On Jun 12, 2017

Is nigga naptu competing with explorer on who brings the dopest historic sh**?

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by johnie: 7:05pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:
Tags: Ishilove, caveatemptor, johnie, joseph1832, DanseMacabre, stagger, kannymoore

Thanks for the mention.

Quite informative.

Cleared a few things I was not sure about and connected some dots for me.

E.g.

1. Thought Murtala was riding from Dodan Barracks to the Federal Secretariat when the coupist struck. The report says he was riding fron his home in Ikoyi to Dodan Barracks. Can anyone clarify?

2. Despite driving through the stretch between where he was killled and FRCN several times over the years, it never struck me that the coupists only had to walk a few meters to the radio station after killing Murtala. Not until I read this.

3. Also never knew LLTC ever hosted such a big tourney. I remember that the Williams sisters played there just a few years back. I thought that was the most high profile event there.

Also noted that

1. Customs also performed the role of immigration in those days.

2. Federal Palace was the place to be in Lagos for many years.

I remember reading about some strange events happening there around the time of the first 1966 coup.

Does Transcorp Hilton fit the bill of FPH in Abuja these days?

Thanks for sharing!

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by naptu2: 7:17pm On Jun 12, 2017

johnie:

Thanks for the mention.

Quite informative.

Cleared a few things I was not sure about and connected some dots for me.

E.g.

1. Thought Murtala was riding from Dodan Barracks to the Federal Secretariat when the coupist struck. The report says he was riding fron his home in Ikoyi to Dodan Barracks. Can anyone clarify?

2. Despite driving through the stretch between where he was killled and FRCN several times over the years, it never struck me that the coupists only had to walk a few meters to the radio station after killing Murtala. Not until I read this.

3. Also never knew LLTC ever hosted such a big tourney. I remember that the Williams sisters played there just a few years back. I thought that was the most high profile event there.

Also noted that

1. Customs also performed the role of immigration in those days.

2. Federal Palace was the place to be in Lagos for many years.

I remember reading about some strange events happening there around the time of the first 1966 coup.

Does Transcorp Hilton fit the bill of FP in Abuja these days?

Thanks for sharing!

1) Murtala lived in the same house he lived in when he was minister of communications. It's in Old Ikoyi, but I've forgotten the name of the street. He didn't even have a generator in that house.

2) I used to call Ikoyi Road "The most important road in Nigeria" in the 1980s. That's because State House Ribadu Road, Dodan Barracks and Broadcasting House all have gates on that road. Flag Staff House (now Defense House) is also nearby. Remember that Murtala was killed at the Bank Road/Ikoyi Road junction.

3) The visit of the Williams sisters was facilitated by Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Lord Rumens' nephew. LLTC hosted lots of high profile matches. I spent many Saturdays watching them on NTA Sports World.

4) The strange events during the 1966 coup occurred at Ikoyi Hotel. Colonel Largema was killed at Ikoyi Hotel. You are right, both the Federal Palace and Ikoyi hotels were fun places to hang out in.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Ishilove: 7:39pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:

1) Murtala lived in the same house he lived in when he was minister of communications. It's in Old Ikoyi, but I've forgotten the name of the street. He didn't even have a generator in that house.

2) I used to call Ikoyi Road "The most important road in Nigeria" in the 1980s. That's because State House Ribadu Road, Dodan Barracks and Broadcasting House all have gates on that road. Flag Staff House (now Defense House) is also nearby. Remember that Murtala was killed at the Bank Road/Ikoyi Road junction.

3) The visit of the Williams sisters was facilitated by Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Lord Rumens' nephew. LLTC hosted lots of high profile matches. I spent many Saturdays watching them on NTA Sports World.

4) The strange events during the 1966 coup occurred at Ikoyi Hotel. Colonel Largema was killed at Ikoyi Hotel. You are right, both the Federal Palace and Ikoyi hotels were fun places to hang out in.

Marry me!! cheesy

*slobber slobber*

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by kannymoore(m): 7:43pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:
Tags: Ishilove, caveatemptor, johnie, joseph1832, DanseMacabre, stagger, kannymoore

Pele and Author Ashe ke??!!

How interesting!!!

Meanwhile Uncle Naptu2, thanks for the mention... Sorry bout my silence all this while sha.. had some art related activities to attend to all this while.

Biko, no too vex.

But that aside, I still follow your diary pretty religiously though!

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by johnie: 7:58pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:

Nduka Odizor

Veronica Oyibokia receiving the top prize after winning the All Nigeria Open Tennis Championship in Lagos. In the middle is boxing aficionado, former host of Big Fight of The Decade and former president of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Mr Chuka Momah.

Lord Rumens, Ogbe, Dala. Hmm.

Those names bring a flood of memories- The Duke, Igbinovia, Oyibokia, etc.

There was a Lagos ITF tournament which began during Ashiwaju Tinubu's tenure as Lagos governor.

I think it used to be held at LLTC. Does it still hold?

I remember Chuka Momah's boxing programme on NTA.

He played significant roles in sporting circles.

I think he wrote a book recently on his experiences. That should be worth reading.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by kannymoore(m): 8:01pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:
Tennis was big business in Nigeria from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. Stars came from all over the world to play in tournaments in Nigeria. People like Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis and of course Arthur Ashe, played at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club at one point or the other. We had great tournaments with considerable prizes, like the following big three tournaments:

Lord Rumens Tennis Classics:
Prize = $75,000. Venue = Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

Chief Olatunji Ajisomo Alabi (aka Lord Rumens) was a multi-millionaire who served as president of the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club from 1966 – 1975. He led other millionaires like his cousin, Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, his nephew Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Chief Raheem Adejumo, etc, to invest heavily in tennis, particularly in the LLTC. The centre court at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club was named after Lord Rumens after his death in 1998.

The Lord Rumens Classics was the biggest tennis tournament in Nigeria in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. It was part of the ATP Tour (the ATP called it “The Lagos Classics” or “The Lagos Open” ). Lots of foreigners played in the tournament in order to gain ATP ranking points. It offered very good prize money, between $60,000-$75,000 in the 1970s and ‘80s and this attracted stars from around the world like Karel Nováček , Thomas Muster, Jacob Hlasek, Paul Haarhuis, Arthur Ashe, Dick Stockton, etc. Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas funded the tournament after the death of Lord Rumens in 1998.

The Lagos Lawn Tennis Club originally had grass courts, but they were converted to clay courts in the 1970s and then to hard courts (concrete) in the late 1980s. A new centre court was also built for the 1976 tournament.

The Lord Rumens centre court at the LLTC

www.nairaland.com/attachments/5406390_cvinocuueaan3t5_jpeg746d5e72d94e90215fcfa765b622284a
www.nairaland.com/attachments/5406391_llt3_jpg3915710eb03719f0_jpeg49ede23a22d6b2143700278e8568c172
www.nairaland.com/attachments/5406394_lagosltc_jpeg415b2d708e46b52c17735b1c573dae49

Ogbe Hard Court
Prize = $50,000. Venue = Ogbe Stadium, Benin.

Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia was the sports loving governor of the Mid-West State from 1967-1975. He built Ogbe Stadium (now Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium), set up the College of Physical Education, Afuze (to train coaches and PE teachers) and started the Ogbe Hard Court tournament in 1971. It was also during his tenure that Bendel Insurance was formed and the Mid-West/Bendel State dominated sports in Nigeria.

The Ogbe Hard Court tournament was part of the ATP Challenger Tour. It was sponsored by the Bendel State Government, by Pepsi/7up (in the 1970s) and by Guinness in the 1990s. It attracted players from all over the world who came to acquire ATP ranking points and also for the $50,000 cash prize.

Dala Clay Court
Prize = $50,000. Venue = Kano Tennis Club

Dala Clay Court tournament was started in 1980 and it quickly eclipsed the Kaduna Clay Court Tournament to become one of the big three tennis tournaments in Nigeria. It was sponsored by Aminu Dantata, Isyaku Rabiu, etc (and is now sponsored by Aminu Dantata’s grand-nephew, Aliko Dangote).

There were several other tennis tournaments in Nigeria in the 1980s, such as the following

Kaduna Clay Court Tournament. Prize = $25,000). Venue = Kaduna Club.

Premier Hard Court Enugu. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Enugu Sports Club.

Ogun Green Court. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Abeokuta Sports Club.

John Player Classics. Prize = $25,000. Venue = Lagos Country Club, Ikeja.

Nuel Ojei Classics. Venue = Ikoyi Club.

Nigerian tennis stars

Nigeria had so many tennis stars (some of whom were personal friends of mine) who won ATP tournaments all over the world. They included:

1950s and ‘60s: Walter Obianwu, Herbert Oranye, etc.

1960s and ‘70s: Patrick Obi, Lawrence Awopegba, Thompson Onibokun, Yemi Allen, Kehinde Ajayi, etc. and among the women there was Elizabeth Ekong.

1980s: Nduka “The Duke” Odizor (who got to the 4th round at Wimbledon in 1983 and was ranked number 52 in the world in 1984 and number 20 in the doubles. He won 28 titles overall, including in Taipei, Lagos, Thessaloniki, Monterey, Tokyo, Forest hills in New York City, Benin City, etc), David Imonitie, Sadiq Abdulahi, Tony Mmoh, Yakubu Suleiman, Chike and Emeka Obianwu, etc. We had such great female tennis players like Veronica Oyibokia, Nosa Imafidon, Rolake Olagbegi, Nwando Obianwu, etc.

1990s: Katya and Tanya Okpala, Clara Udofia, Osaro Amadin, etc. We also had male tennis players like Sule Ladipo, Jonathan Igbinovia , Priye Hamilton, etc.

Nduka Odizor

Veronica Oyibokia receiving the top prize after winning the All Nigeria Open Tennis Championship in Lagos. In the middle is boxing aficionado, former host of Big Fight of The Decade and former president of the Nigerian Tennis Federation, Mr Chuka Momah.

Under the 90's sir, you forgot to add Kyrian Nwokedi too.

2 Likes

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by naptu2: 8:05pm On Jun 12, 2017

johnie:

Lord Rumens, Ogbe, Dala. Hmm.

Those names bring a flood of memories- The Duke, Igbinovia, Oyibokia, etc.

There was a Lagos ITF tournament which began during Ashiwaju Tinubu's tenure as Lagos governor.

I think it used to be held at LLTC. Does it still hold?

I remember Chuka Momah's boxing programme on NTA.

He played significant roles in sporting circles.

I think he wrote a book recently on his experiences. That should be worth reading.

Yes, the tournament still holds at the LLTC. It's called the Governor's Cup, but it's mainly juniors that attend the tournament. They don't have stars like the Lord Rumens Classics had. http://governorscuplagostennis.com/author/aoke/page/4/

I never missed Chuka Momah's boxing show at 8pm. They changed the name of the show at some point, but it was originally called Big Fight of The Decade.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by naptu2: 8:06pm On Jun 12, 2017

kannymoore:

Under the 90's sir, you forgot to add Kyrian Nwokedi too.

Thank you. I was trying to remember his first name, but I couldn't so I just left it out.

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Ishilove: 8:07pm On Jun 12, 2017

kannymoore:

Pele and Author Ashe ke??!!

How interesting!!!

Meanwhile Uncle Naptu2, thanks for the mention... Sorry bout my silence all this while sha.. had some art related activities to attend to all this while.

Biko, no too vex.

But that aside, I still follow your diary pretty religiously though!

My dear I never heard of Ashe until uncle naptu's thread

2 Likes

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by naptu2: 8:18pm On Jun 12, 2017

Ishilove:

My dear I never heard of Ashe until uncle naptu's thread

Arthur Ashe was the first black man to win a grandslam tournament. He won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. He was also ranked number one in the world.

He played an important role in getting South Africa banned from world tennis twice, because of their apartheid policies.

He showed that black people can play tennis at the highest level and Venus and Serena Williams have cited him as being one of their sources of inspiration.

He publicly admitted that he had AIDS in the late '80s or early '90s, one of the first sportsmen to make such an admission. He had been infected during a blood transfusion in 1981.

He died in 1993 and the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, venue of the US Open, is named after him.

Picture: Arthur Ashe at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by DonMekino(m): 8:19pm On Jun 12, 2017

As usual.... Nigeria will find a way to destroy anything good.... Imagine how far we would have gone in tennis development....

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by kannymoore(m): 8:24pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:

Yes, the tournament still holds at the LLTC. It's called the Governor's Cup, but it's mainly juniors that attend the tournament. They don't have stars like the Lord Rumens Classics had. http://governorscuplagostennis.com/author/aoke/page/4/

I never missed Chuka Momah's boxing show at 8pm. They changed the name of the show at some point, but it was originally called Big Fight of The Decade.

Gee..

And here I thought it's always been called Sports Spectacular! undecided

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by aventura: 8:25pm On Jun 12, 2017

Even before I opened the thread I knew it was going to be Special Agent Naptu. While reading the thread, I imagined what a good movie it will make if only the right people are viewing.

1 Like

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by naptu2: 8:27pm On Jun 12, 2017

kannymoore:

Gee..

And here I thought it's always been called Sports Spectacular!

Yes, I think that's the other name, I'm not sure (remember I said they changed the name at a point), but I'm certain of "Big Fight of The Decade".

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by Garrirevenge(f): 8:46pm On Jun 12, 2017

This thread literally brought tears to my eyes. Where is this nigeria now... Oh God come to our aid.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by jantavanta(m): 9:03pm On Jun 12, 2017

Garrirevenge:
This thread literally brought tears to my eyes. Where is this nigeria now...
Oh God come to our aid.

Nigeria was once an African Superpower, with an ambition of being a competing World Superpower; hence, we got checkmated.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by jiangchu: 11:03pm On Jun 12, 2017

naptu2:

http://www.blacktennishistory.com/benin-city-nigeria/

please stop posting these pics it makes me feel like crying we had it good then. foriegners wali and work freely on our street. it hell to ba a nigeriain 2017

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by hakeem77: 2:26am On Jun 13, 2017

Sweet history.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by vivaciousvivi(f): 6:01am On Jun 13, 2017

naptu2 I loved this! Who would have thought? I never knew Ashe was in Nigeria ever (may his soul rest in peace). The coup was way before I was born and u learn these tid bits in social studies but reading it this way, gives a completely different view of the confusion and mayhem that must have followed afterwards.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by speed99: 6:42am On Jun 13, 2017

thank you Sir for this piece. you just wonder, how did we get here. Ogbe hard Court comes to mind.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by davidif: 8:14am On Jun 13, 2017

NwaAmaikpe:

It feels like yesterday....
Listening to martial music from my dad's transistor radio.

Then I heard.

Good day fellow Nigerians, I am Colonel Dimka, I bring to you good tidings....the hypocrisy of the Murtala Mohammed administration has been discovered.........

Gosh... When Nigeria was Nigeria

Wait! Did you just praise a military coup?

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by dabossman(m): 9:08am On Jun 13, 2017

another wonderful thread from naptu2. My dad went to see Pele at that time.

Re: Throwback: When Pele And Arthur Ashe Were Caught Up In A Nigerian Coup. by johnie: 9:09am On Jun 13, 2017

naptu2:

2) I used to call Ikoyi Road "The most important road in Nigeria" in the 1980s. That's because State House Ribadu Road, Dodan Barracks and Broadcasting House all have gates on that road. Flag Staff House (now Defense House) is also nearby. Remember that Murtala was killed at the Bank Road/Ikoyi Road junction.

You forgot to add the Federal Secretariat.

naptu2:

3) The visit of the Williams sisters was facilitated by Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, Lord Rumens' nephew..

Another sports journalist of repute, like Chuka Momah, Deacon Ayo Ositelu (popularly called 'Arena' was the MC at the Williams sisters' exhibition match at LLTC.

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