I SCORED IMPOSSIBLE GOALS – SULE KEKERE

My name is Sule Kekere of Mighty Jets, I was born in 1942 in Jos, Plateau state capital. I attended Nuruddeen Primary School but could not finish secondary school due to financial challenges. I was the captain of Nuruddeen throughout my primary school years. However, I started playing amateur football in 1963, with a club […]

My name is Sule Kekere of Mighty Jets, I was born in 1942 in Jos, Plateau state capital. I attended Nuruddeen Primary School but could not finish secondary school due to financial challenges.

I was the captain of Nuruddeen throughout my primary school years. However, I started playing amateur football in 1963, with a club known as “Sea Never Dry”. I remember a community cup final, Jos Amateur Football Association (JAFA Cup), we played against Eleven Rangers in the earliest part of that period. It was a memorable match. The Eleven Rangers had some great players like Garba Okoye and Peter Anieke. They won that final.

How he started football career

I first started as a goalkeeper but when I moved to Sea Never Dry I started playing as a central defender and when I moved to Black Stars, another local team in Jos, I started playing inside right. It was then that I was named Sule Kekere because of my smallish statue and the person that gave me that name was our then Chairman Balali Dauda, that was how the name started but my actual name is Sule Yusuf. At some point we also formed a team called Federal United and we had the likes of Layiwola Olagbemiro and Garba Okoye (both of blessed memory). Our rival team then was “Schedule Wednesday” that included players like Ismaila Mabo, Salisu Nakande, Uba Junior and others. There was this final we played which ended up in violence after we scored a goal. In 1965 we represented Jos where we won the Premier’s Cup organized by Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto. I have also played for the Northern Region alongside the former Minister of Sports late Anthony Ikhazubor.

How Mighty Jet was formed

It was within that period that we formed the Mighty Jets around 1969, Garba Okoye was the brain behind the creation of Mighty Jets. I remember he went to the Sports Council here in Jos and was told that we would no longer be playing competitions on regional or city-by-city but on the basis of club sides. So he met us and introduced the idea of forming a formidable club from Jos. We invited other players notably from Schedule Wednesday…Ismaila Mabo, Layiwola and others, we then formed the Mighty Jet from Plateau state, we went to Ibadan and bought jerseys. That was how we formed the Mighty Jets. When I was playing for the Mighty Jets, everybody knew me as a goal getter, there was no single match that we will play that I will not score a goal. You will find out that when we won a match with a single goal, the goal usually comes from me or if we score like five goals, you will find out that about three out the five came from me. That was how the name “Goal Getter” was first given to me then.

A man with so many names and goal scoring skills

When I was playing for the Mighty Jets so many names were given to me by different people, some people used to call me “Wizard of the Field”, “Mai Kwanar Salati”, “Banana Shot”, some were even calling me “Pele” because of the way I used to score my goals. When it comes to the issue of positions that I played there is no wing that I did not play at the forward line, I have played the outside and inside right as well as inside and outside left. What actually happened was because I had problem with our coach then and what he did to get back at me was to put me in a position that I was not used to as an indirect punishment but Allah gave me the wisdom to play well in those positions. There was also a time when a Brazilian coach called Lopez was brought to Mighty Jets and the first thing he did was to remove me and Layiwola Olagbemiro and it happened I was the topscorer of the team and eventually my team mates protested and said if he did not include me in the selection they will not play and it was a Challenge Cup semifinal in 1972. Eventually when I played, our opponents were leading us with one goal, I equalised the goal and even scored the winning goal. In that year I was the highest goal scorer in the Challenge Cup and the National League, in most cases I used to come as a substitute (since Lopez took over the team) and equalise all the goals and as well score winning goals. It was Allah that gave me that skill of scoring goals. I also remember there was this match that we played against Bendel Insurance, if they win the match we will not top the league but if we even get a draw we will be the one to top the league, they first scored a goal against us and two minutes to the end of the match I equalised and we topped the league. At the end of the day we were asked to represent Nigeria in Africa in 1973.

In that same year we were to play the final of the Challenge Cup in Lagos, we played against Enugu Rangers and I was not among the players in the selection, it happened one of the players was not feeling fine, that day even fans of NEPA club came to support us. When the match started they scored a goal against us, about 25 minutes to the end of the match I came in as a substitute and the whole field started applauding. It was at that time that I started taking some shots and their goalkeeper Emmanuel Okala was shouting at his team mates to stop allowing me to take shots. Although we lost the match to Rangers, I was given the best footballer of the Challenge Cup series and it was my picture and that of the then Head of state Yakubu Gowon that came out on the front page of all the national dailies the next day. Again, it was the same year that I attempted to stop playing football because I was not happy with treatment I was receiving in the team from the Brazilian coach. The most annoying thing was that it was not as if I wasn’t a good player, I am not in any way blowing my trumpet but it’s Allah that gave me the scoring ability, everybody knew I scored impossible goals. There was a time when Mighty Jets went to play a match in Kaduna and I decided not to go because I knew Lopez will still bench me, when our fans in Kaduna got to know that I was not among the team they nearly burn Mighty Jets’ bus.

His career and former Gov. Abdullahi Adamu

I happened to be the favourite of the former Governor of Nasarawa state Abdullahi Adamu then. He employed me to work for BEPCO and accepted his offer, many of our supporters were even not happy with him because they felt he had ended my football career because of the job offer. At some point he called me and suggested that I should return to my football career because of the attitude of my supporters towards him after he offered me the job. And I told him that it was a good idea even though I continued to work for the company at the end of the day.

Qutting football

I left Mighty Jets in 1981, I am not saying it was because of me quitting the team but many people said it was because of my departure the club was relegated to Division Two.

The eye problem saga

Some few years after I left Mighty Jets I started developing some eye problem, I became jobless and things became very hard for me. I made several efforts to get the eye cured for many years. But eventually with the help of people like Yakubu Muhammed who helped at his own individual level and also connected me with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) I was able to overcome the eye problem this year even though old age is making a huge impact on my eyes. But I don’t go too far from where I am staying; I usually go out for a stroll. I think I want to use this opportunity to call on the government of Plateau State to look into our plights because there are quite a number of us that have laboured for the state, our God given talents in football has taken the state to a higher level that one cannot imagined. However, I would like to thank the present Gbong Gwom of Jos, Buba Gyang, who is making effort to see that something is done to us for serving the state. About three of us including Layiwola Olagbemiro were given appointment letters in Ibadan in those days but we declined the offer because we believed we belong to Plateau state.

Most memorable moment in football

There was this match we played with Octopus in 1972 in Jos, our patron (Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim) also came to watch the match and he was not happy as we were losing 0-3 in the first half. Some people were even saying “Where is the Sule Kekere that they are talking about?” Immediately when we returned for the second half I scored a goal and added another, one of my team mates equalised the third goal and Nakande added another goal and then I scored the fifth goal, the match ended 5-3 in our favour. That was a moment that I still cherish in my life.

Most disappointing moment

The 1968 Challenge Cup final we played with Stationary Stores in Lagos was the most disappointing match I ever played during my football career. Then I was playing for Plateau Highlanders, we were leading the game 2-1 and it was remaining only three minutes to the end of the match, we got a penalty, we played and missed. And the same person that missed the penalty for us, mistakenly, touched the ball within our 18-yard box and they were awarded a penalty, They played and scored. We drew the match 2-2. The match was somehow replayed and they won.

His family

I am married with eight children but I lost one, I now have seven left.

Favourite food

You know we (Yorubas) cannot run away from Amala (laughter) it is my favourite food. I also like garri with draw soup.

National football woes

I was at the national team camp in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975, but never played an international match, however, I played trial matches for the national team at local level. There was a time the Green Eagles was to play a trial match with the Mighty Jets and there happened to be an argument as to which side I was to play for, at the end of the day I played for Jets. I equalized every goal the Eagles scored againts Jets.

The success of the national team solely lies with the coaches. Most of the coaches demand for money from the players. It was done to one of my sons, although he has now quit playing football. If the coaches do not succumb to outside pressure, for instance from political office holders, the sky will be the limit for the national teams. The issue of collecting bribe within the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) and the lower leagues is also another problem hindering with our local football, I know it happened during our time, but it was not as bad as it is now.

Any regrets?

Because of the football career that I pursued I have not been able to go to school or pursue any business, but you know God has already destined all that and as a Muslim we are expected to always accept whatever that happened to us and I thank God for what he has done to me.