By Segun Odegbami
I am doing this because he is a very special person.
Except you know me very closely since my footballing days in Ibadan, you may not immediately recognise the name Olusegun Ogunbo!
The easiest way to remember him is that he is the elder brother to Yetunde, the wife of my team mate in Housing Corporation FC, Ibadan, Shooting Stars FC, Ibadan, and in the national team, the Green Eagles, late Mudashiru Babatunde Tiamiyu Lawal, MON, MFR, Nigeria’s first official Soccer Ambassador.
It was partly because of my friendship with Segun that the family succumbed to pressure to allow their beautiful ‘jewel’ to marry a football player, even if he was a Star.
In those days, some half a century ago, Segun Ogunbo and I were the closest friends on the planet.
We met as two boys-turned-men in the very early 1970s. We were 2 days apart in terms of the dates of our birth, but he was older (and wiser) by two years. At the time, we were not even aware of the difference.
Segun was very suave, very handsome, and the centre of female attention. I was an ‘innocent and harmless’ student at the Polytechnic Ibadan, emerging from the shadows as an unknown but rapidly emerging football star in a town that was acutely passionate and fanatical about its football traditions particularly as counter to local rivals, Water Corporation FC in Ibadan, and Rangers International FC of Enugu on the national scene.
For the next dozen years or so, Segun and I, with a few other friends, painted them all ⁴ancient city of Ibadan Red, Black and Blue, becoming major players in the social fabric of the city.
Through most of that decade, we rented and lived in adjacent rooms and apartments in the same buildings, even when we got married two years apart at relatively young ages. Living next to each other meant that our friendship extended to our new families.
Segun was my Best Man in 1978. I did not have to ask him.
When I was an HND student at The Polytechnic Ibadan in the mid 1970s, he was initially a staff of P and T before berthing finally in United Bank of Africa where he rose through the ranks and became a branch Manager.
Almost three decades ago, soon after I left Ibadan for Lagos, Segun also left his banking job and headed for greener pastures in the United Kingdom.
In short, we have been friends for over half a century. We were very ‘hot’ contenders for ‘most eligible bachelor’ at a time, even though we knew deep down that there was no contest – he was so good at the ‘game’ that he awarded the unofficial title of ‘Talent’ by friends. Make of that what you will.
Today, Sunday, August 25, 2025, Olusegun Ogunbo, my bosom brother and friend, the man who spent more time with me through the years of my football career than anyone else, the man who has remained as close to me as we have been through over 50 years, turns 75! Where have the years gone?
With the way we lived in those days, our adventures, our travails through the challenges of life, it is hard to imagine that we have both survived and are still kicking and alive.
I join with all the rest of the Ogunbo family worldwide in celebrating a great man and true friend, ‘Segesto Carabelo’, ‘Talent’, Olusegun Ogunbo, on the anniversary of his 75th birthday.
In the picture, we sit together in a Nigerian Airways DC 10 flight to London in 1981 on a mission to paint the city the colours of Ibadan.
Look closely at the faces. I am the more ‘handsome’ of the duo.
Happy birthday ‘Segesto’!
