The name Lateef Erinfolami rings bell in basketball circles within Africa. An All Africa Games silver and bronze medallist, as well as coach of the Lagos State youth team, Erinfolami is a force to reckon with in the game of dunking.
Lateef Erinfolami
He readily tells anyone who cares to listen: “Of course, I cannot be pushed aside when it comes to issue of basketball in the country. I was in the national team for over a decade and half and captained the team for many years.”
Pointing out that “basketball in the country now is not what it used to be in our days”, he stressed the need for a return to the old glorious days “when we were playing for the country with pride and joy and not because of money”.
Erinfolami belonged to a generation that was willing to represent the country “even if to be on the bench and not touch a ball throughout the duration of a match”.
He mentioned the late M.K.O. Abiola, the late Lord Rumens, the late Sebastian Williams and Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu as some of the few individual philanthropists that were supporting them with fund aside the little the federal government was releasing.
“Then we were being paid $20 a day or even less. Irrespective of the payment, we were also raring to go and do the nation proud. The prestige was there then to represent the country. But now, it is money everywhere, and you cannot blame anybody for that because of the financial situation in the country and the fact that we all want to survive
“So you cannot really blame anybody, but we all need to have a change of attitude to help develop the game that has brought honour and glory to the country,” he said.
Erinfolami, who was the coach of Nigeria’s junior basketball team to the World Championship in Portugal in 2002, attributed the slow rate of improvement in the game in Nigeria to lack of adequate tournaments.
He also cited lack of motivation as another factor responsible for players’ lack of dedication to the game in the country, and stressed the need for both the administrators and the players to update their knowledge of the game.
“The running of the game has been in the charge of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) for more than two decades now, and what should be in the mind of every stakeholder should be how to move the game to higher level. This cannot be achieved without support from sponsors.
“The administrators and the players need to update themselves. Our administrators need to go for refresher courses, while the players need to update their skills of the game.
“Sports change people’s lives because it is business, and it should not be different here in Nigeria. That is the practice in Egypt and most of the European countries, and we must not lag behind.
“We need to re-orientate ourselves and look at the entertainment aspect of the sporting activities. We need to move forward and not be static. The government and all stakeholders should look into it and ensure that the players are not idle,” he said.
The ex-dunker encouraged corporate bodies and individuals to give back to the society by sponsoring sports to keep the youth occupied.
He said the government has been funding the game before. But since sports have grown beyond this level, corporate bodies should step in to bring professionalism to the game.
“We are actually improving, but at a slow rate. We need to do more; we need to look for sponsors and have more tournaments.
“NBBF has been running the affairs for more than two or three decades. Now we should be thinking of how we take basketball to higher level. We cannot get to higher level without support from sponsors,” he said.
Going down memory lane, he attributed determination as the key factor that helped him to excel during his playing days.
His words: “There are so many factors that contributed to my success in the national team, and one of those factors is determination.
“I remember when I captained the team to the Nations Cup in Algiers in the early 90s. We were to play the hosts, Algeria, in the third place match and there were fears in our camp as a result of the hostile crowd.
“The crowd was so hostile to the extent that they were throwing ‘missiles’ and empty cans of drink at our bench, and the umpires were so scared to call them to order because of the threat to their lives.
“As the match was going on, the captain of the side walked up to me and spat on my face. Rather than retaliate, I wiped off the spit and urged my colleagues to let us continue with the match. I was determined for us to win the match.
“The centre referee saw what happened and was bold enough to disqualify the captain. We went on to win the match by a close margin and nothing happened to us at the end of the encounter.”
For him, that was just the tip of the iceberg in the team’s determination. “If you call that determination, then listen to this. It was in our local league, then, and I was with Ebun Comets of Lagos. We went to Kano to play the dreaded Kano Pillars. There was this feeling that Pillars doesn’t lose at home. When we got there, there was tension everywhere, from match officials to security personnel.
“The officials came to us (and asked us) to play to lose. When they approached me, I told them that I was determined to play out my heart and win this match because I left Lagos not to lose, but to win. They approached my other colleagues with the same request, but they aligned with me and we went on to win the match with a wide margin and nothing happened.
“After the match, I went to the Pillars camp to exchange greetings with my friends, and I was surprised with the reception they gave to me,” he said.
Erinfolami, who is now the coach of First Deepwater Basketball Club and Lagos Islanders, advised up-and-coming players to be determined in their efforts to excel.
“I don’t see myself as a coach, but as a teacher teaching the young ones how to do the right thing and be good ambassadors of the country,” he added.
