Expert Analysis! SPORTS NEWSWATCH IRAN BARKLEY POLITICS NATIONAL SECURITY HAKEEM OLAJUWON
Russian Escalations in Syria Risk Direct Conflict With U.S., Military Officials Warn and the implications of falsehoods and Intel Blunders from Solano!
Expert Analysis! POLITICS NATIONAL SECURITY
Russian Escalations in Syria Risk Direct Conflict With U.S., Military Officials Warn and the implications of falsehoods and Intel Blunders from Solano!
Recent Russian airstrikes and other operations in Syria raise alarms amid high tensions over Ukraine
Tyne-Wear derby: Shay Given fires a derby warning to Newcastle United and now as a Goalie Coach he eyes Bulb Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Striker and Tehran native Alireza Jahanbakhsh Jirandeh to shore up Derby County Midfield at Pride Park stadium north London neighbors of Fulham which a British Nigerian pop star and friend once contemplated buying.
Former Newcastle United goalkeeper suggests Newcastle players don’t understand the Tyne-Wear derby; Hawaii. My Dear Bunmi Oke Isn’t that Where You Attended School In The United Kingdom Before You Returned Home (Bunmi, a member of the Nigerian Constitution Reform Panel, Was My Girlfriend between 88 and 89, and we were wiretapped on our last night together at an Ikeja Hotel before I Traveled to San Francisco in 1989.) So how did Shay become part of the Tyne-Wear Landscape which is near where Bunmi grew up in the UK. Or Are We Talking of a Bubbly Solo Double in a Car — imagine on I-80 traffic With Middle East Ties? Interestingly a former tenant Shahaub aka Shay, who had an out of state Child abuse felony is orginally from Iran. I do not know this person and I have never abused anybody. The Only Shay in my family is the son of my West German friend Jacqueline Domin, a San Rafael resident and former wife to my nephew Mark Mackbee, a professional footballer and now high school soccer coach in Marin County. Jacqueline has been my creative partner since ’99 and created my Communications Consultancy logo which is on file with Fairfield City Hall. Any attempt to falsely link me with this Shay person could be disastrous for America’s Middle East Policies and will draw A into direct conflict with Russia! Does Donald Trump or Joe Biden (For that Matter) Know What His Syria Policy Is? https://nyti.ms/2ATFLgp
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/tyne-wear-derby-shay-given-11050276
Because our Politicians have been wrongly briefed and because this war makes no sense it is important to point out for privacy reasons that my My next of kin and National Crime Editor at the New York Times Shaila Dewan knows what happened, somebody scratched the bottom of my feet for blood while I was asleep and may have been mixed with his semen in the bathroom later. Is Joe Biden complicit?
Lead photo shows me and Bill Fairfield from Dixon. The former fire chief and WWII Hero who assisted with the recapture of the Phillipines Island from Japan is a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. An exclusive interview with Bill Fairfield will be published in the Sunday edition of the Dixon Tribune.
Yesterday I got a strange call from Iran from a mother with the voices of children in the background. She hung up without saying a word. Seems there is concern there about a Shay Child Molester — Shay May Be Gay- being maliciously used for smear politics. But by who in Fairfield? I have no idea of that lifestyle. For the attention of Governor Gavin Newsom. There is a harassment case file with DFEH, Elk Grove from 2018. https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/
How they got my number in Tehran, Iran is a mystery. I do not know nobody from there. I only reported on a fight between American Iran Barkley and Nigerian Canadian Mathew Olajide for Newswatch. This is certainly a concern about how Xenophobe Intel People Misuse Information from Journalists that that they target.
Read More!
Charles Barkley We Are Happy To See The Black Mamba Strike From Heaven
What a Photo! This Christian journalist is honored to have interviewed these two great NBA legends, one known for the sky hook and the other for the dream shake. I have known Hakeem for decades, met his parents in Lagos and lived in the same Somolu neighborhood with his older brother Yemi Kaka, and interviewed him three times. I also interviewed Kareem Abdul Jabbar at the NABJ Las Vegas Convention. Of course I am glad that both are happy to be devout Moslems, just as I am a good and clean straight Christian, and just as they are the same as Moslems. But they do not know Iran. And neither do I know Iran where they hang criminals. Kareem Jabbar Thanks for the great reflection on 12UpCom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJcsP5fMbaQ
The exclusive story of Akeem Olajuwon’s rise to stardom
Preface — In 1987, I and Louisa Aguiyi-Ironsi teamed up for an exclusive report on the meteoric rise of Akeem Olajuwon to the top of the NBA. I anchored the story from Lagos, while Louisa had to travel to Houston to interview Akeem and others for our report, which was for the Nigerian audience, at the time, but which I am sure everyone can relate to now. Living in the same neighborhood in Somolu, Lagos down the road from Olajuwon’s elder brother Yemi Kaka (also the same neighborhood where Femi Kuti lived with his mother at the time) gave me an inside track on this story which made the cover of Quality Magazine, a sister publication of Newswatch. This cover story was to be the beginning of a friendship with Olajuwon that included coverage of the Rocket’s games in Oakland, Los Angeles and Houston, as well as a proposal to co-author Olajuwon’s biography, which was eventually written by Curry Kirkpatrick of Sports Illustrated. Covering Olajuwon also afforded me the opportunity to meet up close many of the NBA’s big stars of the 90’s including Earvin Magic Johnson, Kevin Johnson, now mayor of Sacramento, Dikembe Mutombo, Manute Bol, Kenny (the Jet) Smith, now a broadcaster with TNT and Sam Cassell. One reason for the re-publication of this story is because it’s never been available online.
Akeem — God’s Gift from Nigeria to the World of Basketball
By Ben Edokpayi and Louisa Aguiyi-Ironsi
For him the American dream has become a reality. Akeem Abdul Olajuwon, at 24, has arrived. In every sense of the word. His lifestyle proclaims it, his professional records shout it. In his Houston, Texas, USA home, he sports the paraphernalia of his millionaire status — a black Mercedes, a red Porsche, two houses, plus a fat bank account. The house he lives in looks like something out of a megabucks Hollywood movie. An imposing brass and wrought iron gate keeps unwanted guests at bay and shuts in a fantastic swimming pool shaped like a basketball court. The third floor of the house also sports a small disco that welcomes you in with “The Dream” tag in neon sign.
The gangly 17-year old who left Nigerian shores in search of better fortunes abroad has certainly done well for himself. From earning next to nothing as a secondary school graduate, he now earns a record $1,082,500 per annum as centre for the Houston Rockets and is listed as the 71st highest paid athlete in America today. With all that plus his commercial endorsements and businesses, he can afford the trappings of millionaire-dom. And as he arrives in Nigeria his homeland, he comes back a hero and a superstar. Unbeatable is how his MacDonald Hamburger commercial on American television describes him (and the burger.) But “unbeatable” is not the only suitable adjunct used in describing Olajuwon’s athletic prowess; or his home in Houston. Words like “unstoppable” and “awesome” also come in handy. Greg Wright and executive with MCA records in Los Angeles and a basketball buff is one of those under the spell of Akeem’s awesome play. He told Q “Akeem has got some moves nobody’s see here yet and he’s like a child who’s still growing in the game.”
Akeem is indeed the Miracleman of basketball, who has won the hearts of the people of Houston and basketball fans all over the United States and even beyond. A downtown store in Houston proclaims on its billboard “We Love Akeem.” The encomiums are all over the place. And for some Americans, the mention of Nigeria is somewhat synonymous with Akeem. A visitor on several occasions was because of the different mode of dressing, or a distinctive accent, queried about what country she came from. The reply “Nigeria” each time, brought the same reaction “Hey! that’s where Akeem the Dream is from” and “Y’all back in Nigeria must be real proud of Akeem.”
Akeem’s initial introduction to competitive basketball in 1978 was just a matter of happenstance. At the All Nigeria Teachers Sports Festival in Sokoto late in ’78 Akeem’s school, the Muslim Teacher’s College in Lagos had entered for basketball as one of the events, but Akeem was not in the team then because he was a handball player and not a footballer as the American media often portray. Fortune was to smile on him later when some members of the Muslim Teachers College basketball team led by Akin Orinmoloye, who now plays for the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) team, approached Ganiyu Otenigbagbe their coach then, and broached the idea of introducing Akeem into the school’s team. Otenigbagbe nodded his assent and he was not to regret that decision. Akeem was featured as a pivot in his first outing and Oliver Johnson, an American, who is regarded as the “Nestor” of Nigerian basketball was so enthralled by Akeem’s performance in that competition that he yelled excitedly at Otenigbagbe “where did you find this boy?”
A year later, the boy Akeem had blossomed into a well-rounded player as he featured for the Lagos State basketball team apart from his regular spot in the handball team in Oluyole ’79 (National Sports Festival) at Ibadan, Oyo State. His performance here was enough to earn him a place in the Nigerian team that featured in the ’79 African Championship in Morocco. In 1980, just two years after he discovered the game, Akeem led the Nigerian team to the African junior championship where he emerged the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament and this was the break into limelight. Otenigbagbe told Q (Quality Magazine) that Akeem developed so fast in the game because he started right. “He didn’t just jump into the game like a street ball player on a neighborhood basketball court. He went through instructors that put him through the basic routines of the game.’’
But if Guy Lewis, the coach of the Houston Cougars, really realized the potentials of this young man when he first set foot at Houston’s Inter-Continental Airport in 1981, then he would have sent a chauffeured limousine to pick up Akeem, rather than a cab. The young man had come to enroll in a four year undergraduate programme in business administration at the University of Houston, Texas where he also debuted for the college basketball team, the Cougars. Olajuwon recalls that the first year at the university saw him studying more than playing basketball. In his second year, much as he liked the game, he did not initially get as much playing time as he would have wished. Olajuwon did not really break into the big league until April 1983, when he played for the Cougars against North Carolina State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Associate (NCAA) championship tournament in New Mexico. The Cougars lost closely 52–54, but Olajuwon was selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player. He was the first person from a non-winning team to earn the MVP award in the NCAA playoffs in almost two decades and he and Michael Jordan of North Carolina State University, now of the Chicago Bulls, topped the ratings as college basketball’s best players.
At 20, Olajuwon was already faced with the prospect of becoming a pro, but the choice of a career in basketball over a university degree was a hard one to make. Two considerations made his mind up for him. First, Olajuwon says, was that he was that he had been billed by basketball experts to be the NBA’s number one university draft choice for 1984. He adds that the Houston Rockets was to pick their new players first. Olajuwon says that this was an opportunity to stay in Houston, the town that was to become his second home. Second, was the realization that turning a professional basketball player did not mean the end of the primary mission which brought him to the United States — education. “The American system of education allows you to take courses at your own pace. One could complete an undergraduate program even if it took 10 years.”
Olajuwon thus put his signature on a six-year contract of over $6 million and so began his journey to millionairedom. The contract received a new boost at the beginning of the 1986/87 season when the Rockets management increased Akeem’s contract to $20 million. Olajuwon is not enjoying the fortune all to himself. He has brought three of his brothers to Houston, two of whom are enrolled and are in the basketball team at Marianne Cristine High School in Houston.
The brothers in Houston are Akin, 20, Taju, 17 and Afis, 15, who began playing the game at the Saturday mini-camps initiated for Lagos youths by Otenigbagbe at the Rowe Park in Lagos.
The non-playing basketball brother Akin, is at the University of Houston. “Taju is bad” Olajuwon says. “He’s going to be big.” “Just like you?” “Yeah” he replies.
Taju will play for the Indiana State University, the Hoosiers. Akeem’s parents equally have imposing attributes. His mother Sadiatu stands at 5’ 7” while his father Salami Olajuwon is 6’ 2”. At their modest home in the heart of Surulere, Lagos there are signs to show that Akeem is the star of the family. His framed pictures adorn the wall of the family’s small living room that immediately looks out on the sandy playing pitch that spawned Akeem’s playing skills. Sadiatu Olajuwon, 68, is not only proud of Akeem, but also told Q that she would like him to always “behave well, to be humble and to continue to inspire Nigerians and Americans in the game of basketball.” She does not have to worry for Akeem still remains an inspiration and still retains his humility, even after achieving stardom.
Another person who occupies a big portion of Akeem’s heart is Lita Spencer, a young black American lady. A law student and graduate of Rice University in Houston, Spencer is 5ft 5 inches tall and Olajuwon’s girlfriend (at the time.) Akeem’s parents also seem to approve of their relationship. A huge framed photo of Akeem and Lita adorns the family home of the of the Olajuwon’s in their Surulere residence in Lagos. Akeem told Q that he is “going steady” with Lita. “She’s very intelligent, pretty?” he is asked. “Yes, very pretty,” he adds shyly. When asked if he was considering Lita in marriage, he replied that she is his girlfriend and will soon be through with law school. “I could use a company lawyer.”
The way Akeem’s business is going he may need more than one company lawyer. Mike Ogunleye, Olajuwon’s business manager, who oversees the business affairs of Akeem incorporated from the 1700 West Loop South high rise office in Houston, spoke to Q on Olajuwon’s business ventures ranging from product endorsements to marketing of Olajuwon’s line of sportswear. Olajuwon is currently the main spokesman for Etonic athletic shoes. Apart from a base payment, Ogunleye says that Olajuwon receives royalties for every pair of athletic shoes which attract about $2:00 each pair for sales in Europe and America. Wilcon, a leading company in sports equipment carries Olajuwon’s signature on sports bags and balls.
Akeem’s success story is as remarkable as that of big time athletes like Muhammed Ali, O.J. Simpson, Bruce Jenner and Kareem Abdul-Jabber. Remarkable enough that a film like “The Greatest” which featured Ali is considered worthwhile. Hal Lundgren was initially billed to write the script for the movie (on Olajuwon). Lundgren’s efforts, according to Ogunleye, were less than satisfactory and the writing was slow. Now, they are looking for someone “bigger” — a well known playwright to write the script.
All these ventures add up to money. How much money? Olajuwon is evasive in his response. “You print what I make in Nigeria and people will mob me with requests for money.” Olajuwon told Q that he is the second highest paid player in the NBA. A request for a ball park figure has Olajuwon putting his yearly income at $1.7 million (before the 1986/87 season.) Joey Mills, a black American and gas station attendant in Houston says “shit that guy makes twice that much, McDonalds alone paid him a million bucks for the TV Commercial — He’s lying,” and adds “guess, if I was making that kind of money, I wouldn’t tell, cos the tax fellas will come getcha.”
Apart from the property Akeem is acquiring, it is not too difficult to know what catches his fancy and, of course, his money. Spaghetti, which he told Q is his favorite meal, and a good substitute for rice which is according to his mum, was his favorite in Nigeria, does not cost a whole lot. But it is no secret that Akeem is a natty dresser and huge spender when it comes to clothes. His clothes are made by some of the well-known designers in New York, London, Paris and Rome. But his major outfitters are the Tagho brothers, who run a popular men’s wear shop in Houston. Olajuwon is known to have over 45 tailor-made suits in his wardrobe as of 1986.
Enough, perhaps, to make Giorgio Armani come knocking at the door. One of the Taghi brothers has this to say Akeem’s exquisite taste for clothes: “Akeem has a really good sense about fashion and knows how to put the colours together. He wants to be fashionable. But if fashion changes six months from now, he might change everything.” It is the height of opulence, so much so that Jim Peterson of the Houston Rockets once described Akeem as “probably the best-dressed seven footer in the world.” When he leaves Lagos this month, Akeem will be stopping over in Italy to acquire more dresses for his wardrobe.
And all that money has to be the greatest gratification of playing basketball? Olajuwon disagrees. “The money is good, but my greatest satisfaction comes from winning” and he has always played for teams with positive goals, a team which may not win a championship but is always there at the finals. His records with the Cougars and lately, with the Houston Rockets, are enough proof. Winning a championship tournament, Olajuwon says, is not too far away. Losing to the Boston Celtics in the 1985/86 NBA final playoffs was disappointing but the Houston Rockets had a great season. At least, better than their performance in the current season where their title assault was halted by the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA Western Conference semi-final.
Injuries to Ralph Sampson and the drug addiction problems of Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins nagged the Rockets throughout the 86/87 season, preventing them from attaining the heights they reached in the 85/86 season. In that banner season for the Rockets, Akeem did more than play. He single-handedly put the Rockets back into the NBA finals, a privilege they last enjoyed in the 80/81 season when they lost to the Celtics in the championship showdown. With their boosters all fired up in the 85/86 season, the Rockets made the highly revered Los Angeles Lakers look like antiquated pieces, even with Magic Johnson, the NBA’s MVP for 1987 and “the greatest” Abdul Kareem Jabber on show. At the end of the Rockets’ 4–1 games rout of the Lakers, Akeem remained so indomitable and unstoppable that Magic remarked “in terms of raw ability, Akeem is the best I have ever seen.”
The career play-off high of 40 points he achieved against the Lakers in that 85/86 series was eclipsed in the current season when Akeem scored 49 points in one the semi-final playoffs against the Seattle Supersonics. A feat that was still not enough to earn the Rockets a final berth.
Nevertheless, Akeem’s outstanding performance this season earned him a coveted spot on the NBA All-Star team for the season. Other players nominated were the Celtic’s Larry Bird, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, Kevin McHale of the Celtics and Magic Johnson, 86/87 MVP. The players were selected by a nationwide panel of 78 media members.
In spite of Akeem’s indomitable play, one thing he cannot seem to get a handle on is his ready-to-tumble and quick-tempered manner on court. His temper cost him two ejections in the crucial stages of the Rockets’ assault for an NBA title last season.
His participation in a fight sparked off by the by the other half of the “twin towers” Ralph Sampson, who engaged Jerry Sichting of the Celtics in fisticuffs, cost Akeem $1,500 in fines. “I do not like to fight in games but when I am fouled I expect to get my call. If the referee doesn’t give me my call I get mad.” He adds that some players spitefully injure an opponent, enough sometimes to ensure that his target man never plays basketball again. Olajuwon, however, is covered . He took out a one million dollar insurance policy against injuries. Though Akeem is prone to foul trouble on court, he remains shy and humble off-court and in the good books of his teammates and coaches. “We party together and eat together, “ hesays. And when they are not doing any of these things, they communicate during play with the language of basketball.
Much as Olajuwon gets on well with his teammates and loves Houston enough that he has made it his permanent home, he says he is proud to be a Nigerian and does not intend to change his status as a Nigerian citizen. (Akeem now has dual nationality and has played for the US Olympic basketball team) Asked why he is not introduced as Akeem Olajuwon from Lagos, Nigeria in the team’s introduction before a game, Olajuwon explains and Q confirmed that players are introduced as coming from the town where they went to school, and not their hometown.
He hopes however to visit home more frequently in the future when he may have built a comfortable house which will not be disturbed by the unstable activities of NEPA or poor water supply. And athletic shoe industry Olajuwon plans for Nigeria maybe operational at that time. This summer when he plans to come to Nigeria, he hopes to test-market some of the products and maybe do some special programmes on Nigerian Television to promote the game.
Olajuwon cannot put his finger on how the name ‘The Dream’ came about. He recalls that he acquired it in his freshman year in the University, when during practice, he had dribbled a ball from one end of the court to the other and dunked it through the hoops with such ease, that his coach remarked that he had made the play “look like a dream.” The name rhymed with Akeem and stuck till this day. Other sobriquets might as well include “Akeem the scheme”, and “Akeem the Miracleman.” He may well have been nick-named the Dream for another reason — the account of his success which tells like a fairy tale and which started with dreaming as a child, that he would one day go to America. Olajuwon has lived beyond that dream and its realization has somehow opened sesame for many other Nigerians to play basketball on college teams or professional sides in the NBA. The biggest (Nigerian) pro after Akeem must be Yomi Sangodeyi, popularly known as Yomi Basket and Akeem’s good friend. Sangodeyi was drafted the same year Olajuwon was, but in the third round. He, however, did not make the team of New Jersey Nets to which he was drafted. He left for Europe to play for a year in Italy, then moved on to Spain from where not much has been heard from him.
Another popular Nigerian athlete in Houston is tennis player Nduka Odizor who passed out from Houston University, too. Odizor told Q that while in college both of them used to visit each other. But after turning pro in their chosen careers, the two have hardly seen each other, even though they live in the same town. Odizor has been to the Rocket’s games and written twice to Akeem, but no reply has been forthcoming (as of the time of this story.) He cannot get in touch by phone because Akeem’s number is not listed . Odizor, however, told Q that it would be nice if the two of them could get together in Houston once in a while, and think of ways to develop Nigerian sports.
How does it feel at the top? Olajuwon says “Great”. He adds that he is comfortable with his game. A suggestion is put to him that perhaps there are some weaknesses like temper, and his not too fantastic free- throw average. At the risk of blowing his own trumpet, he says that for the last two seasons (84/85 and 85/86), he has held the record in offensive rebounding. But how about free throws? “I am making 65 percent of my free throws . That is not bad.” Even if his free throw average does improve and he continues to soar high in the game like a Rocket, how long does he hope to stay in the game of basketball? “Fifteen years, maybe longer,” but Olajuwon adds, not as long as the oldest player in the NBA Kareem Abdul Jabber of the Lakers.
In 1971, when Jabbar, now in his 19th pro-season, came to Nigeria on a goodwill tour with the Milwauckee Bucks coach, Larry Castillo and Oscar Robertson, Akeem was just a skinny eight year old. But sixteen years later, the two names are engaged in a succession battle. Jabbar is on his way out as the Mikado of basketball, while Olajuwon is on the threshold of becoming the next baron of the game. \
And that is no Dream but a Reality Q
In the photos clockwise; 1. Ben Edokpayi and Akeem Olajuwon after a Rockets game against the Warriors in Oakland. (2) Along with former MIlwauckee Bucks Coach Larry Castillo and the great point guard Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar toured Nigeria in 1971 on a goodwill mission, when Akeem was just eight years old. (3) Kenny Smith who now runs commentary for TNT is seen here with colleagues Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson. (4) Earvin Magic Johnson says “in terms of raw ability, Akeem is the best I have ever seen.” (5) The Duke, Nduka Odizor, who once reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, attended Houston University with Akeem. He is seen here with the Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. (6) Guy Lewis, Akeem’s first coach in America is shown here with the Dream and Clyde Drexler (7) Edokpayi, Aguiyi-Ironsi and Sola Olufadeju in the Newswatch newsroom. The Akeem story was one of several collaborative reporting work with Louisa.
