By Monica Iheakam
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Nigeria’s iconic footballer, Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun, friends, family, footballers and sports administrators gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in Ikeja yesterday to celebrate and immortalise the late legend.
Lekan Adegbite, the Minister of Mines and Steel, who was ably represented by Engr. Abayomi Oyegusi, chaired the programme.
Former Super Eagles coach, Chief Festus Onigbinde gave a lecture on ‘Teslim Thunder Balogun: The man, his career and his impact’.
“Teslim Balogun made me a coach,” Onigbinde began. “As far as I am concerned, he remains the greatest footballer Nigeria has ever produced. He had all the areas of fitness a footballer needed to excel in the field of play.
“As a coach, he had the eyes to identify talents, Teslim initiated development of football in Nigeria in 1961.
“Footballers of today need to study a lot about the late Thunder Balogun to know the meaning of true commitment, invention and patriotism.”