It is very unusual seeing someone play active football for about two decades without an injury, except a slight inconsequential one. Such was the case of Nicholas Ukadike, who played football to the very highest level after starting his career in 1973.
Nicholas Ukadike
Popularly known as ‘Thunder’ because of the power behind his shots, Ukadike, in his playing days, was an all-in-all tough player who played in the back four.
When Ukadike shoots the ball, everyone stays clear. Perhaps, he got his nickname from the famous Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun.
One thing Ukadike was known for is his head-butts that strike like thunder on air battle, which bruised many heads and left many unconscious for days.
When he chases an opponent to the corner of the field, be sure of his dangerous sliding tackle, which had stretchered off many players from the game.
He said: “I started playing football in 1973 with the Academicals before I joined the Trojans FC in 1977 and moved on to play for the senior national team, the Green Eagles, in 1983.
“For my club football, I played for Trojans before I joined Spartans of Owerri and the defunct Abiola Babes before moving back to Iwuanyanwu Nationale (formerly Spartans and now Heartland FC) and played last for African Continental Bank (ACB) FC of Lagos.”
However, his happiness to date is the fact that during his playing days, he had no injury despite all the ups and downs he encountered.
He said: “Today, I am happy that I did not have injury for the 19 years I played football, except for the one encounter I had with goalkeeper, Emmanuel Okala. It was in a match we played in Owerri between Iwuanyanwu Nationale and Rangers International of Enugu.
“I scored a goal against Okala and when I ran to pick the ball from the net, he hit me on the face and I was out for some weeks. Apart from that, I never had an injury in my career.”
Despite that he rose through the rungs in football and became famous with the game, Ukadike is not happy that he was cheated during his playing career.
“I played for many clubs in the country, but with the exception of defunct Abiola Babes FC of Abeokuta, the rest cheated me.
“For instance, when I got an endorsement and did advert for ‘33’ Export larger beer in 1983, then I was playing for the Spartans of Owerri, which later became Iwuanyanwu FC and now Heartland FC, the beer company paid huge amount of money that ran into millions. But the club collected the money and gave me peanuts. When I asked questions, I was tagged a stubborn boy.
“The club management started to maltreat me and when I could no longer bear it, I left the club for Abiola Babes. My memorable moment was when I signed for Abiola Babes. The club actually opened my eyes. The sign-on fee was too much that I could not resist it. In addition, I was lodged in an hotel for several months. Those were fond memories of my playing career.
“But when my car was stolen while with Abiola Babes, the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola released money for me to buy another car; but the person in charge of the club then pocketed the money.
“When I realised what happened, I left the club and went back to Iwuanyanwu Nationale, but it was still the same cheating everywhere.
“It was the same thing at the national team. Then, they would tell us to give our best for the country, but at the end, what did the nation do for us? Nothing! Nobody remembers us again. That is my grouse with the country.
“I dumped the national team because of the same bad treatment. When I was playing in the Green Eagles, our handlers then were James Peters, Chief Adegboyega Onigbinde, Paul Hamilton and Tunde Disu.
“Some of my teammates were Paul Okoku, Alloy Agu, Willy Okpara, Friday Ekpo and many others I can’t remember now. But I was forced to dump the national team because of the ill-treatment that was meted out to us.
“Most of our allowances were not paid, yet we would go to camp with our money. Then, there was a lot of politics in the national team, and if you don’t know how to play the politics, you would miss out. We had no laid down programme; all that everybody wanted from us was to win every match. Nobody bothered about our welfare,” he said.
Ukadike, who is now a qualified coach and manages a football academy (Real United Football Academy) in Lagos, recalled how he fought many forces on his way to stardom.
His words: “In my active soccer days, playing football was good because you could earn a scholarship from a school, and it was a thing of joy representing your country at major championships.
“We played football with passion, having the understanding that if you drop your jersey, you might not get it again.
“However, it’s annoying that Nigeria does not recognise her past heroes who played the round leather game. If it were in other countries, people like me would be celebrated. I would want to be celebrated for my achievements while I’m still alive, not when I die people would begin to make meaningless eulogies.
“For instance, I’m a qualified coach; but who cares to know that I don’t have a job? Nobody wants to come to my assistance.
“I disobeyed my parents to play football. My parents did not want me to play football to the point that I would quarrel with them, but I disobeyed them.
“Because of that, they stopped paying my school fees and I was forced to start hawking kerosene and oranges after school to raise my school fees. However, when my father discovered that my interest was very high in football, he called me one day and begged me to forgive him.
“He then blessed me and advised me to continue playing football, but with a warning that I should not spoil his name and that of the family that he took time to build.
“He said: ‘I fought hard to make my name; go and add to the good name through football. But don’t spoil it’.”
Ukadike did not retire from football; but stopped playing active football after the 1993/94 season for reasons beyond his control.
“It was during my days with ACB FC of Lagos when things became difficult for the bank. Initially, the management was complaining that it was not getting back its investment in the club.
“So, all the players were called back to the office. But even in the office, the situation did not improve. It got to a point that paying our salaries became difficult for the bank.
“With that condition, after putting 11 years in the office, I decided to throw in the towel. That was how I bade goodbye to football.”
He, therefore, called on stakeholders to take more interest in grassroots development and the up-and-coming players to be more disciplined.
“We need to show more interest in grassroots development, if we really want the game of football to move forward in the country. We must look deep to discover young and hidden talents to replace the present ageing players in our national team.
“More emphasis should also be placed on our league. We should change our attitude towards our league. We should go back to the old days where our league is very lucrative and everybody will want to be part of the league.
“Our football lovers should also be ready to sacrifice for the country and put aside their selfish interest for the game to grow.
“By and large, all hands must be on deck for the success of the league and our national teams,” he added.
