“ WHEN KUNLE SOLAJA REVIEWED THE GOLDEN BOOK OF SHOOTING STARS”
An excerpt of the speech delivered by Kunle Solaja,Director of Special Publications,Sun Newspapers on the occasion of unveiling the book which is a compendium of the history of Shooting Stars Sports Club Ibadan on the 16th of December 2015 at the Liberty Stadium,Ibadan,Oyo state,Nigeria)

It is a great pleasure for me to be here today. Being at this premier modern sporting arena brings nostalgic feelings to me. As some of you may know, I grew up in Ibadan and the then Liberty Stadium was always a place I visited either to watch matches or to be among my playmates on the practice pitch of this arena. I can recall some great matches that I have watched at this stadium.

But more significantly, it was at this arena that I first met Ayodele Ademokoya, the author of the book that has magnetised everyone here today. Three days ago marked exactly five years when a mutual friend, Ganiyu Salman brought the two of us together to discuss the book being launched today as well as my own book project. I had been invited by the Oyo State wing of the Sports Writers’ Association of Nigeria to deliver a paper titled “Sports as catalyst for peaceful society”.

Since that December 13, 2009 interaction, Ademokoya and I established a bond. I am therefore happy today that the object of our meeting has matured into reality today. The book on Shooting Stars has left the drawing board. It is no longer in the pipeline. We can now all hold the book that has added to the gradually increasing literature on Nigerian sports, especially football.

Ademokoya has therefore contributed his own quota to sports literature in Nigeria. As most of you may rightly observe, there is a dearth in sports literature in Nigeria despite the great passion that the citizens have for sports, particularly football. The fans are therefore being starved of vital information on their passion. It is on that note that I once again congratulate Ademokoya for the painstaking job that has extended the frontier of knowledge on the oldest existing football club and history-making Shooting Stars.

What an occasion to also launch the book. It would have been a great mistake if the author had brought out the book this time last year. I therefore congratulate the players, the technical crew as well as the generous government of Oyo State who all worked assiduously to ensure that the Shooting Stars are back in the Premier League that they should always rightly belong.

Before I am accused of getting off focus, I return to the object of my being here: the review of “The Golden Book of Shooting Stars”. For the records, this is not the first book on the club. There have been two others that I know. Olu Aina of the BCOS wrote “IICC Shooting Stars: Two decades of Soccer” in which he chronicled the saga of the club. Femi Adesina, my boss at The Sun Publishing Limited wrote another book on the club: “The Shooting Stars: The Golden Era of a Soccer Team”. I can also recall that Chief Lekan Salami, perhaps, the most passionate Nigerian football administrator and fan that I ever know about, had set the ball rolling with his book: “Over Three Decades of Ibadan Soccer History”.

All those publications served as the Biblical John the Baptist to Ademokoya’s book. The author raised the bar with “The Golden Book of Shooting Stars”. In a classical dramatic style, the author opened with a recall of the early days of football in Ibadan, the base of the subject matter, Shooting Stars. He later took his readers to the interview he had with one of the legends of Nigerian football, Dejo Fayemi. Ademokoya revealed that it was the interview he had with Fayemi that actually gave rise to the 255-page book that is being launched today.

The book was not just on Shooting Stars which had transformed severally from WNDC Shooting Stars to IICC Shooting Stars and now simply 3SC which is an acronym for Shooting Stars Sports Club. The story of the club will not be complete without words on the famous Liberty Stadium which is now renamed after its visionary and executor, the Honourable Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The author took us back in time on the building of the arena and the exploits of Shooting Stars on the alluring turf of the arena which was the pride of Africa. Ademokoya told the story of how Shooting Stars at their inaugural match in February 1963 beat the Local Government Police side, 13-0 at the Liberty Stadium. The author wrote about the recruitment drive of Chief Lekan Salami to build the team at its infancy.

Ademokoya in Chapter six wrote on the glorious years of the club, especially the winning of the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 1976 especially the thrilling semi final duel with Zamalek of Egypt and the final duel with the Roger Milla-inspired Tonnere Kalala of Cameroun.  

The book is spiced with interviews with great sports personalities like Dejo Fayemi (earlier mentioned), General David Jemibewon (rtd), Segun Odegbami, Taiwo Ogunjobi, Idowu Otubusin, Zion Ogunfehimi and Alan Hawkes, the English coach of the club in 1976. The latter gave a player by player profile of the victorious 1976 squad.

Of course, the story of the Shooting Stars cannot be complete without the famous “balu balu n’tafin”. This is the sad tale of the failure to win the then Africa Cup of Champions Cup in 1984. The author writes: “The indefatigable chairman of IICC Shooting Stars Supporters’ Club, the later Alhaji Ganiyu Elekuru  a.k.a Baba Eleran, and his colleagues composed and hit the air waves with the song: ‘Balu balu n t’afin o, Balu balu nt’afin o, afin i reran osan o ! Balu balu ntafin’. This means that blurred vision is a major trait of albinism, an albino does not see in the afternoon. That raised the hopes of millions of Nigerians that there was nothing to worry about the game against the Egyptians who Baba Eleran compared to albinos who do not see clearly under scorching sun. The match was slated for 1:00pm.

In conclusion, the book is a collector’s item. I strongly recommend it for football fans, administrators, coaches among others. It is hoped that this publication will also ginger the writing of books on other clubs in Nigeria.

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you all for your attention.