Another pall of grief has descended on Nigeria’s sporting community following the death of former Super Eagles midfielder Henry Nwosu, who passed away early Saturday morning at the age of 62.

The news of his death was announced by his former teammate, Nigerian football legend Segun Odegbami, through his media platforms on Saturday.

According to Odegbami, Nwosu died at about 4:00 a.m. at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, where he had been receiving intensive medical care since Wednesday.

“Henry Nwosu passes on! After five days in hospital battling for his life, the one I call ‘Youngest Millionaire’ passed on at 4:00 am this morning at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, where he had been in intensive care since Wednesday,” Odegbami wrote.

“It is with deep pain in my heart that I have to be the conveyor of the news of the death of Henry Nwosu MON. May he rest peacefully with our Creator in Heaven.”

 Before him, other members of the squad that had passed on, were goalkeepers Best Ogedegbe and Moses Effiong, defenders, Christian Chukwu, Okechukwu Isima and Tunde Bamidele, midfielders Aloysius Atugbu and Mudashiru Lawal, and forward Martins Eyo.

Born in Imo State, Nwosu rose to prominence as a gifted midfielder known for his vision, creativity and technical skill. He was the youngest member of Nigeria’s victorious squad at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations, where the then Green Eagles secured the country’s first continental title on home soil.

His performances during the tournament and in subsequent international appearances established him as one of the most exciting midfielders of his generation.

Beyond his international career, Nwosu was also a prominent figure in Nigerian domestic football, where he earned admiration for his intelligence on the ball and leadership on the field.

After retiring from active football, the former international remained deeply involved in the game, working as a coach and mentor to younger players while contributing to grassroots development.

Nwosu’s death comes just days after another major loss to Nigerian football. Former Super Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde, who led Nigeria to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, died on March 9 at the age of 88.

Both Nwosu and Onigbinde were prominent figures in the Green Eagles set-up during the 1980s, with Onigbinde serving as head coach of the national team between 1982 and 1984.

Their passing within days of each other has deepened the sense of loss within Nigeria’s football fraternity, as tributes continue to pour in for two men who made lasting contributions to the country’s football history.

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By Kunle Solaja.

Late Nigerian football tactician Adegboye Onigbinde left behind many legacies in the country’s game, but one of his most enduring contributions was the popular identity he gave to Shooting Stars Sports Club — the famous 3SC.

The former Nigeria national football team coach, who died on Monday at the age of 88, is widely credited with coining the abbreviation that has since become synonymous with the Ibadan-based club.

During his early years with the club, Onigbinde observed that the team’s name, Shooting Stars Sports Club, was often shortened in different ways in newspapers and football discussions. Seeking a simple and distinctive identity, he adopted the initials 3SC, representing the three words that make up the club’s name.

The abbreviation quickly gained acceptance among supporters, journalists and football administrators, eventually becoming the club’s official shorthand and a powerful brand in Nigerian football.

Over the years, the name 3SC has become inseparable from the club’s identity, appearing on jerseys, official documents and stadium chants from fans at the Liberty Stadium in Ibadan.

Shooting Stars is one of Nigeria’s most historic clubs and a dominant force during the golden era of Nigerian club football in the 1970s and 1980s. The team won several domestic titles and achieved continental glory when it lifted the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 1976 — becoming one of the earliest Nigerian clubs to win a major African trophy.

Onigbinde himself played a key role in shaping the club’s football philosophy and youth development culture during his association with the team.

Beyond club football, he later went on to coach the national team, guiding the then Green Eagles to the final of the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations and later leading Nigeria to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he became the first indigenous coach to take the country to the global tournament.

While his achievements with the national team are widely celebrated, many football followers also remember him for giving Shooting Stars a unique identity that has endured for decades.

Today, long after the coach first coined it, the simple abbreviation 3SC remains one of the most recognisable symbols in Nigerian club football — a reminder of Onigbinde’s lasting imprint on the game.

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By Kunle Solaja.

Another pall of grief descended on Nigeria’s sporting community on Monday night with the passing of veteran football tactician Adegboye Onigbinde, who died at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, just a short distance from his ancestral home in Modakeke, Osun State.

His death came amid a sombre period for Nigerian sport, following closely on the heels of the passing of Chamberlain Nnamdi Dunkwu as well as two respected sports journalists, Niyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu.

For Onigbinde, football was not merely a profession—it was the defining passion of his adult life. Over several decades, he served the game in Nigeria and beyond as a coach, administrator and mentor, leaving an enduring imprint on the country’s football development.

In an interview with Sports Village Square in 2022, the late coach traced the turning point of his career to a chance encounter in the early 1960s with Nigeria’s legendary footballer Teslim Balogun.

Onigbinde regarded Balogun—popularly known as “Thunder”—as the greatest footballer Nigeria had ever produced.

According to him, it was Balogun who set him on the path to coaching.

“I was a Grade III teacher when he spotted me in Ife and advised me to take up football,” Onigbinde recalled. “Coincidentally, I went to Ibadan to do my Grade Two Teachers’ Course at St. Luke’s College in 1961 and became the captain of the team.”

Dateline: Liberty Stadium, Ibadan. 16 July 1961: Chief Onigbinde, arrowed,  and the early generation of Nigerian coaches. On the far right is the legendary Tesilimi Balogun. On the far left is Moshe Jerry Beit haLevi, the Israeli national coach of Nigeria.

That moment would prove decisive.

At the time, Balogun, working alongside the national team coach Moshe-Jerry Beit haLevi, organised a Grade B coaching course under the Western Regional Council of the Nigeria Football Association.

The course took place at the iconic Liberty Stadium—now known as Obafemi Awolowo Stadium—from June 26 to July 16, 1961.

Among those trained were several individuals who would later shape Nigerian football, including Onigbinde, Niyi Akande, Ayo Adeniji and Godwin Etemeke.

Onigbinde continued his professional development years later when he participated in another coaching programme organised by Balogun in March 1969. Among the participants in that course was Yinka Okeowo, who would later serve as secretary of the Nigeria Football Association.

With those formative experiences, Onigbinde found his lifelong vocation.

He began coaching in the then Western Region, travelling from school to school and from town to town to impart football knowledge to young players.

His early club career included managing the now-defunct Water Corporation FC of Ibadan before he rose to prominence with Shooting Stars Sports Club, one of Nigeria’s most historic clubs.

Under his guidance, the Ibadan-based side reached the final of the 1984 African Cup of Champions Clubs, a major milestone in the club’s continental journey.

The same year, Onigbinde also led the national team—then known as the Green Eagles—to the final of the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations, where Nigeria finished runners-up.

His career later extended beyond Nigeria’s borders. In the early 2000s, he worked as a technical instructor and youth coach with the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, helping to develop the country’s under-17 programme.

He left that position in late 2001 after assembling a promising youth squad that competed against local professional teams.

Shortly afterwards, he returned to Nigeria to take charge of the national team and led the Nigeria national football team to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first indigenous coach to guide the country to the global tournament.

Beyond trophies and statistics, colleagues and players remember Onigbinde as a disciplinarian, a thinker and a committed teacher of the game.

For a man whose journey began as a classroom teacher and was transformed by a chance encounter with a football legend, his life story became inseparable from the development of Nigerian football itself.

With his passing, Nigerian sport loses not only a pioneer coach but also a living bridge to an earlier era when the foundations of the country’s football culture were being laid.

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