A girlfriend is different from a wife — Oyedeji

D’Tigers Captain to London 2012 Olympics, Olumide Oyedeji, talks about his upbringing, career ups-and-downs, his journey through 13 countries, family, women, and lots more.

Young boys are normally attracted to football in Nigeria. Why did you choose basketball?

I actually started playing soccer in Ibadan, where I was born. I played Laniwon U-13 tournament, YSFON U-13, Oba of Benin Cup and Ramat Cup. So I was soccer player while growing up but I had the opportunity of going to one of the best schools in Ibadan then, Loyola College, and I had the opportunity to play basketball. I developed interest and that took me to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and I felt it was a great opportunity; I took it and never looked back.

In 1997, you were the Most Valuable Player of the Nigerian top division. Was that the turning point of your career?

I was also the MVP of the division one in 1996. It was like a motivation for me; that was the same year I was launched and I got invited to play for the national team. That same year, I was in the team to the World University Games in Sicily. I am the only African player that was leading scorer, leading rebounder, MVP and among best five of the World University Games. No other   African has done that. That was the turning point for me. And playing for D’Tigers, I had the chance to play with late Mohammed Achaba, Julius Nwosu, Tunji Awojobi, Peter Aloma and Ayinla Johnson. These were icons we wanted to be like. It encouraged me because I felt if I could play with these people, I could play with anybody.

Did you witness initial obstacles?

Yes I did. I went to Russia in order for me to go to the US but when I got there, I couldn’t leave; they held me back, held my passport and tried to make me stay. So I couldn’t move to the US and I tried to manage it until the end of the season. I signed a long term contract with a team in Russia. During a break, they thought I was coming back but I knew I wasn’t going back. I used the opportunity to leave Russia and move to Germany. Things went well until the middle of my career when I was a free agent. Everything didn’t go well and everybody believed it was over for me. Thank God for Coach Ayo Bakare, who has been a great mentor to me. He stood by me. I can only sing praises to God.

How did you feel when you were drafted by Seattle Supersonics in the NBA?

I was projected to go in the Top 15 of the draft but I didn’t get picked on the number 42. So I didn’t want to play in the NBA, I was mad; I was sad. After that, they gave me a contract but I wasn’t happy. But notwithstanding, I still look back and thank God.

You have played in 13 countries, five continents. Are you moving again from Japan?

It’s been fun; the job has been moving me everywhere and I am like a journeyman. Wherever you get a contract, that’s where you get a job. It’s been a lot of experience playing in all these places. Everywhere I played, I left good examples. So I can go back there anytime. I’m a businessman and basketball is my business. There is a high possibility that I may return to China but I don’t want to play in Europe anymore because I don’t want to play basketball for 10 months again; I am not that young any longer and I have to take care of my body. So I play for about six months and rest for six months in a year.

Did you witness racism in all the countries you’ve played?

All I had was love. I respect them and they respect me. I adapted to their culture and environment, and made them accept me. That’s part of your being a professional. I build bridges; I don’t burn them.

What was it like playing at the Olympic Games for the first time last year?

That was the height. Every athlete wants to be an Olympian. Personally, I have done it all. I played in NBA, played in Euro best league, Asia best league, won many championships, played in the world championship in 1998 but I was not an Olympian. It’s a great feeling to be the first man to lead the national team to the Olympics. I am the only African player to play in the Olympics, world championships and NBA right now. So it’s a great achievement.

What was the motivation behind D’Tigers qualification for the 2012 Olympics?

I give kudos to the players, Coach Ayo Bakare and Tijani Umar. The coach along with Umar did a fantastic job putting the team together but people don’t know. We lost the first game, got motivated and beat Lithuania. After we won, I was in tears, I couldn’t believe it. With God, nothing is impossible. It would have been easier qualifying through the African championship as winners but we couldn’t make it. I love making history and we are the first African team ever to have made it to the Olympics from the qualifying tournament. It was great.

How did the team celebrate the qualification afterwards?

We enjoyed ourselves on the courts but unfortunately, I had to wait behind for the dope test. So, I missed all the locker room celebrations. The guys were just happy, jumping, playing music and giving thanks to God. Everybody was ready to go home to share the joy with their families. It was a really great feeling; we couldn’t sleep.

What led to your team’s record defeat to the US?

I felt extremely bad because I hate losing. At the press conference, I said, ‘happy birthday’ to the US team. That was the best day of their lives and their careers. Even if you put the Miami team right now together to play the US team with the way they played against us, they are going to be defeated by not less than 70 points. We went on man (marking), we couldn’t stop, we went on zone; no way. We went again on man, we were just unfortunate. Something like that happens in basketball sometimes and its unfortunate it happened to Nigeria. But life goes on. To be among world’s best 12 teams is a great thing.  After that, we moved up five steps in the world ranking. I don’t feel bitter with the defeat. We are the first African country to win a game in the Olympics.

Money they say comes with women. How do you manage?

I am so grateful to my mother for what she did for me. I was born in church and grew up in church. And my life has been centered around God. Morals are very important; I learnt a lot of things from the Bible. Even before I got married, I had only a girlfriend at a particular time, because I didn’t know what my mother was going to say. If I didn’t go to church, I wouldn’t eat. I was forced to go to church. I had to go for vigil every Wednesday and Friday, or else no food. I was used to this. I hated my mother so much when I was young because I felt she made me suffer; I felt she was not fair to me. She would beat me if she sees anything in my schoolbag that didn’t belong to me. If you do what she did then now, they will call it child abuse. But it guided me in life. If I couldn’t do something while she is there, why should I do the same thing behind her? I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t chase women, I don’t go to clubs. People think I am crazy. They ask me about my tattoo, earrings and braids, but as a responsible man and a role model for the younger ones, I must lead by example because they are going to do what they see me do. With women, it’s the same thing.

After playing in so many countries, why didn’t you marry a foreigner?

When I’m home, I don’t speak English, I speak Yoruba to my children. Aside that my mother didn’t want me to marry a foreigner, I wouldn’t have been able to teach my kids my language if I married a non-Nigerian. I don’t need to tell my daughter to kneel down when she sees an adult before she does. With a foreign wife, I wouldn’t have been able to do that. Again I didn’t want to be an interpreter between my wife and my mum. My children come home regularly but I can’t do that if I married a foreigner. I don’t allow my children to wear tattoos, crazy hairstyles and earrings because I never did it.

What attracted you to your wife?

My wife is a very loving, caring and homely. I had a relationship before I met her but there is a difference between a wife and a girlfriend. I wanted to get home and be happy; I wanted someone who would listen to me; I wanted someone who would be a good mother to my kids. I didn’t want to get involved with a woman, who was in love with material things. When you are successful in life, it takes the grace of God to show you the right person for you.  You can’t even know if they love you for who you are or what you are.

What did you do with your first NBA money?

I converted it to naira and shouted, “Hey, I will go home and buy all the land in my village.” Unfortunately, by the time they gave me the salary, 54 per cent of the money was gone on tax. And I shouted again, “Oh my God.”A Yoruba adage says a child will use his first money to eat bean cake. Everybody wanted a share of the money. This is Africa and you have to understand that. I couldn’t go to where I used to eat beans and bread before. I couldn’t go to Mama Put, where I could eat amala N50, shaki N50, kpomo N50. That is the price you have to pay. Now you have to go to the eateries. But I never let that change me. I still try to be the same person that I was before then. I cherish the people that I met before I made it, not people that want to associate with you because of your success. To manage success is 10 times harder than being successful. There was a time I was broke despite playing in the NBA because expenses kept coming.

What are your best and worst moments?

I don’t think I have worst moments because the Bible says in everything, give thanks. I thank God for my life, good health and injury-free career. Though I had knee surgeries, I thank God.  I have a lot of happy moments, when I won the championship, my first game in the NBA, when we qualified for the Olympics etc. When I said I my dream was to play in the NBA, some of my friends in school at Ife laughed at me. In fact, one of my friends hated me so much for that. He said, “Who are you? Peter Aloma and Tunji Awojobi haven’t played in NBA, who are you to play there?” But I believed in God and I got there. I never had a dull moment though I got disappointed a few times.

Are you thinking of quitting the national team soon?

Yes, very soon, I have been with the team for 16 years and I want to leave for the young players. Definitely, I will leave sooner than people expect.

How successful has your foundation been?

I have the Olumide Oyedeji Youth Foundation, which was established in Seattle in 2000. Among the programmes the foundation has is Drop-Out-Drop-In. It’s for kids who drop out of school. It enables them to drop back in. The other one is Bright Leadership Future programme. We make kids believe in themselves through career talks and motivational speeches that will help them develop psychologically and intellectually. We also have the Read To Succeed plan, which is for kids from kindergarten to junior secondary school. The other one is Pick a Book, Not a Knife; Shoot a ball, Not a Gun. It’s for the kids who starve themselves and engage in shooting. We want to pick them off the streets. They can use basketball as an avenue to get involved in other things. I have a programme for the ones that can’t make it to the US. I sponsor them in Nigeria. Among them, I have seen bankers, engineers and a computer analyst.

Do you think basketball players are fairly treated like footballers?

I’m not being jealous but you win an African Cup and you get a Member of the Order of the Niger award, what about the people that went to the Olympics? I’m not talking about myself; I have done everything for the country in the last 15 years but it has never been recognised. It’s quite unfortunate that our government does not recognise those it should. But I think the minister is changing that perspective now. He is a smart and intelligent young man. Before now, I called them ministry of football, anti-youth and sports development. Football is just one out of 40 sports we have in the country. Have you heard about a football team not having money to travel? It happens to other sports. I give the players kudos for winning the African Cup but if you give them national honours, you have to do that for other sports that won laurels for the country. Footballers got $10, 000 winning bonuses in the African Cup but in the Olympics, I had nothing. If you really want to know who is patriotic about playing for this country, tell the footballers that there is no winning bonus. That is when you will know how patriotic they are. You think they pay LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul to play for the USA team? No, they don’t pay them to play for their country. It’s a joy and pride playing for your country. Most of our footballers are well paid. Mikel, Moses are well paid. Football is the leading sport in Nigeria but we need a to do a lot to develop other sports. You give an African Cup winner money and a house, why not the Olympians. If you are good enough, why didn’t you play at the Olympics? I can’t challenge what government has done and I am happy for the players but we can convert this to retirement for the players. That’s what they do in USA and Europe. There, players get grants after retirement but here a lot of sportsmen die after retirement becaue they couldn’t take care of themselves.