Sports creates hope, unifies the world – Odegbami

Renowned football legend, Segun Odegbami, has identified sports as having the potential power to change the world for the better.

Odegbami, delivering the 15th distinguished public lecture of the Federal University, Lokoja, on Wednesday, also called for the exploration of the endless possibilities in the power sports to unite the world.

He said his experience over the years, even after hanging his boots and venturing into sports media and marketing, opened his eyes to various connections between sports and other fields, such as health and business, among others.

He urged everyone, even the university community, to embrace sports and fully tap into their enormous potential.

“As a university community, I urge you to look critically at the stories I have shared today about some of my personal experiences and be ready to test them and venture where no one has gone before.

“Explore the endless possibilities in the power of sports, the most potent soft-power tool on the planet, connected to every aspect of our lives,” Odegbami said.

According to him, the late former South African President, Nelson Mandela, was right when he said, “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people in a way that little else does.

“It speaks to the youths in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where there was once despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers.”

Odegbami also recalled with nostalgia how hostilities between Nigeria and Biafra stopped temporarily to enable soldiers of both sides to listen to the radio commentaries of the two matches involving visiting Santos FC of Brazil, led by the legendary Pele, the most popular athlete in the world at the time, and Bendel Insurance FC in Benin and the national team, the Green Eagles, in Lagos.