Dr Rafiu Ladipo, the President-General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club and former coach of the Super Eagles, Adegboye Onigbinde, have paid tribute to the wife of Nigeria’s football legend, Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun, Alhaja Mulikat, as the family celebrates her 21 years memorial.
Ladipo, said Alhaja Mulikat was indirectly responsible for the great contributions and indelible mark her husband made to the development of football in Nigeria.
“It was Alhaja Mulikat, an astute football lover that convinced Teslim Balogun to return to Nigeria from England where ‘Thunder’ was playing as the first Nigerian to sign a club deal to play in the English league. He was a player of Queens Park Rangers and it was the late Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who asked her to persuade her husband to return to Nigeria to play for Western Rovers in the prestigious Challenge Cup.
“She didn’t just ask him to return, when ‘Thunder’ started playing for the national team, she was present in all the games her husband played for the country, to give her massive support.
“If there were top decisions made by Teslim Balogun that lifted him to become one of Nigeria’s greatest football players of all time, they were due to the influence of his wife. who stood firmly by him with humour, humility and discipline.”
Credit: punchng.com
