Taiwo Ogunjobi

Taiwo Joseph Ogunjobi[1] (17 August 1953 – 11 February 2019)[2] was a Nigerian football player and administrator. He played as a centre-back for Shooting Stars and represented Nigeria internationally. He later held posts as an administrator at club and state levels, and with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and its predecessor the Nigeria Football Association, serving as secretary-general between 2002 and 2005.

Taiwo Ogunjobi
Personal information
Full name CHIEF Taiwo Joseph Ogunjobi
Date of birth (1953-08-17)17 August 1953
Place of birth Ilesa, Nigeria
Date of death 11 February 2019(2019-02-11) (aged 65)
Place of death Ibadan, Nigeria
Position(s) Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973–1975 Shooting Stars
1980–1986 Shooting Stars
National team
Nigeria
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Ogunjobi played for the Nigerian academicals team; he was made captain during 1973–74 and led the side that beat the Ghanaian academicals that season.[3] He joined Shooting Stars, then known as WNDC Ibadan, in 1973.[4]

He left Shooting Stars in 1975 to study in the United States, but returned in 1980 and was appointed captain.[5] A centre-back, he regularly partnered Ogbein Fawole.[6] He led the club to the final of the 1984 African Cup of Champions Clubs.[7] He retired in 1986.[4]

He also represented the Nigerian national team, making his debut against Morocco in a qualification match for the 1984 Olympics.[7]

Administration career

Following his retirement, Ogunjobi became deputy director at the Ministry of Information in Oyo State. While there, he was seconded to Shooting Stars.[4] He became the club's secretary and was later promoted to general manager.[8] During that time, he oversaw their victory in the 1992 CAF Cup.[9] In 1994, he was named as the club's sole administrator, overseeing their victories in the National League and Federation Cup in 1995.[4] He was appointed president of Gabros International in 1999, and later moved to Julius Berger, where he served as general manager for two years.[8][10]

Ogunjobi served as secretary-general of the Nigeria Football Association between 2002 and 2005. He went on to hold the post of chairman of the NFF Technical Committee, and served on the Executive Committee between 2006 and 2010.[8][7][11] He also worked as a member of NFF delegations at FIFA competitions between 2002 and 2010, and officiated as match commissioner for two qualification matches for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[1] In 2012, he was one of four NFF officials that were arrested amid accusations that money had gone missing after the 2010 World Cup, and in 2013, he was issued with a ban from football-related activities for 10 years after allegedly preventing the transfer of Olarenwaju Kayode.[12][13] He was cleared after both incidents.[7] He served as chairman of Prime United and oversaw their transition into Osun United, before resigning in 2017.[14] After a previous attempt in 2014, in September 2018 he lost a second challenge to become NFF President.[15][16] He served as chairman of the Osun State Football Association at the time of his death in February 2019.[17]

Personal life

Ogunjobi was born in Ilesa in 1953, into a Yoruba family.[18] His twin brother, also called Taiwo, was a national champion in the 400 metres hurdles and died in the 1992 Nigerian Air Force C-130 crash. Ogunjobi attended African Church Grammar School and then Ibadan Grammar School, whose games master at that point was Lam Adesina.[8][9] He took fours years out of his football career to study in the United States, taking Textile Engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina, via an athletics scholarship.[4][5] He met his wife – who went on to work for the National Sports Commission – while playing for Shooting Stars, proposing on "the first day we met".[19] They had five children.[8] He died in 2019, aged 65, at the University College Hospital, Ibadan following a short illness.[20]

References
  1. Hassan Abdulsalam (19 February 2019). "FIFA mourns late Taiwo Ogunjobi as family picks burial date". Premium Times. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  2. "Former NFF scribe, Taiwo Ogunjobi dies at 65". The Punch. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  3. Shina Oludare (28 September 2014). "Will Taiwo Ogunjobi's experience land him the NFF job?". Goal.com. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  4. Dipo Ogunsola (12 February 2019). "Taiwo Ogunjobi - 1953 to 2019: Football giant par excellence". Sporting Tribune. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  5. Segun Odegbami (12 February 2019). "My Tribute to Taiwo Ogunjobi". This Day. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  6. Gowon Akpodonor (12 February 2019). "Football family mourns Nigeria, IICC legend Taiwo Ogunjobi". The Guardian Nigeria. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  7. Oluwashina Okeleji (11 February 2019). "Taiwo Ogunjobi: Former Nigeria defender and official dies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  8. "Taiwo Ogunjobi, former football scribe dies". The ICIR. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  9. Emeka Obasi (15 February 2019). "Sports Flakes: Another Taiwo Ogunjobi Departs". The Next Edition. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  10. Shina Oludare (28 September 2014). "Will Taiwo Ogunjobi's experience land him the NFF job?". Goal.com. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  11. Farouk Mohammed (11 February 2019). "Taiwo Ogunjobi, former NFF Secretary General, dies". Okay Nigeria. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  12. "Nigeria arrests ex-football heads". BBC News. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. "Ogunjobi dismisses NFF's ban". Vanguard. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. "Ogunjobi resigns from Osun Utd FC". P.M. News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  15. Kunle Solaja (11 February 2019). "NFF Mourns Astute Administrator, Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi". Sports Village Square. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  16. Femi Badmus (20 September 2018). "Amaju Pinnick re-elected as NFF president for second term". Goal.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  17. Tolu Olasoji (11 February 2019). "Ex-NFF general secretary Taiwo Ogunjobi passes away". Goal.com. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  18. "Tributes as EX-NFF secretary, Taiwo Ogunjobi, dies". The Punch. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019 – via PressReader.
  19. Katherine Baffour (9 March 2013). "Taiwo Ogunjobi: My Wife Arrested Me With Her Beauty". Legit.ng. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  20. "Ex-NFF scribe Taiwo Ogunjobi dies at 65". African Press Agency. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
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