I am ready to serve Nigeria in any capacity -Gbenga Arokoyo

I am ready to serve Nigeria in any capacity -Gbenga Arokoyo

Former Super Eagles coach Clemence Westerhof, the man who took Nigeria to her first ever World Cup, discovered the full potential of Gbenga Arokoyo, a native of Kabba in Kogi State, while at the Football College of Excellence, now Kwara Football Academy.

Gbenga Arokoyo is no doubt a bundle of talent who has excelled in football and academics. He attended Saint Mary Kabba for his primary education and Saint Augustine Kabba for his post-primary education. He proceeded to Kwara Football Academy, where the Dutch tactician gave him the leverage to develop himself to the fullest.

The Òkun born former Under-20 and Super Eagles player who featured in the encounter between the Eagles and Benin Republic, Nigeria versus Luxembourg, where Nigeria won 1-0 and 3-1, respectively, operated as a left wing back player.

Arokoyo garnered enough domestic league experience to adorn the colors of Kwara United before jetting out of the country for greener pastures in Europe and other parts of the world.

In an exclusive interview with Sportspro News Publisher Bayour Issah online, from his base in Sweden, the highly intelligent and rugged defender in his playing days stressed that he settled for a coaching career after a series of injuries and set backs to continue with the round leather object.

According to him, "my motivation to go into coaching was the result of all I learned from Clemence Westerhof, the late Thompson Oliha, and the current technical director of Kwara Football Academy, Sam Elijah MON. The proprietor of Yolvicmike Hellenic Football Academy, Ajiboye Gbenga Michael, a.k.a. Bulu, who played for 3SC, Kogi United, and a premier league club in South Africa, Acadia Shepherd FC, second division, and a host of other coaches, too numerous to mention in my career trajectory,

"Now that I have obtained the highest certificate in football coaching, the UEFA "A" license, I am working on the UEFA Pro license soon. It is my wish to serve my country in any capacity; that was why I applied to coach the Under-17 national male or female team, at least to test-run my coaching capabilities after a robust experience with Umea FC Under-21 club in one of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden to be precise." concludes the amiable and smooth-talking young gaffer, who is also wanted by clubs in Turkey, Denmark, and Saudi Arabia.

Gbenga Arokoyo expressed his gratitude to all football enthusiasts in Nigeria and beyond for making the game a great deal more sustainable, adding that football is now a serious business with passionate people investing heavily. He promised to bring his wealth of experience to bear and push for holistic development by providing the enabling environment for our footballers to sprout in the most-followed game across the globe.

The Nigeria Football Federation recently advertised that a vacancy exists in the National Under-17 for the head coach and Allied Staff. As a patriotic Nigerian who is eager to give back to the society that built him, Arokoyo jumped at the opportunity to serve his fatherland if considered on merit.

In his words, "I was born and brought up in Kabba, Kogi State. I came to Ilorin Kwara State for a football screening without knowing anybody. It was initially difficult to convince my mom to let me travel down, but she eventually prayed and released me to come. With no relative or friend in Ilorin, I was prepared to be sleeping in the stadium premises at night because I had no ample cash then for a hotel.

"When I arrived, the screening had already been moved to Lagos. I met one coach, Peter, who agreed to take me home to his family, whom I stayed with for several weeks before heading to Lagos. Everything went well, and I started my journey at the academy. I came in to the academy as a winger and a forward, but due to injuries that made it difficult for me to cross the ball or shoot with vigor, the late Thompson Oliha encouraged me to play from the back to avoid the requirement to cross or shoot. The rest is now history, as I turned out to be one of the most formidable centers back in the academy. I have always maintained that Thompson Oliha was an angel that God sent into my life at such a time that many people even thought he was my dad, but he is more than that to me.

"I am very grateful to others coaches who have helped me in my formative years and life journey. Much respect to Samuel Elijah, Coach Paul Odeh KSM, and Late Coach Shina Akande. The list is numerous. I imbibed many of the values and life lessons I have learned from them all.

"A promise I made to myself when I came to the academy was never to buy or wear the Nigeria national team jersey until I'm eligible to play for Nigeria. I kept to that until I was invited to the home base national team. With the help of God Almighty and hard work, all of this was made possible. I have always loved to challenge myself, and when you tell me something cannot be done, I always ask why. Or why not?

"My journey as a player was almost an impossible one until I made an attempt, the same as my becoming a coach. Can Nigeria win the FIFA World Cup someday? My answer is why not? We cannot all be working to represent the players and forgetting the value of having a proper foundation, impacting the right knowledge of the game, psychology, skills and technique, and, of course, what we represent as a nation. We cannot stay away from the game we love just because we must know the people at the top. We must dare to believe in ourselves and keep knocking until the doors are open. Finally, my desire to serve Nigeria is a little way of giving back to society. Up Nigeria!"