Nigerian Football Supporters Club Pres. Gen. RAFIU LADIPO
Dr. Rafiu Ladipo is one of Nigeria’s most iconic sports figures, known for his passionate commitment to national football and his role in uniting fans through the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC). A trailblazer who joined the club in 1977, he rose through the ranks to become its President-General and is widely recognized for registering the NFSC officially with the Corporate Affairs Commission in the early 1990s.
His leadership extended globally, launching Supporters Club chapters in over a dozen countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He has been pivotal in sustaining Nigeria’s presence at major international competitions, often funding supporters’ travel and mobilization through personal resources. In addition to his leadership in football, Dr. Ladipo is also the President of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control.
In this exclusive interview with City People Journalist, Benprince Ezeh (08068599879), Dr. Ladipo opens up on the controversies surrounding the factions within the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, his history with the club, his relationship with football legends like Christian Chukwu and Dodo Mayana, and his take on the Super Falcons’ success in completing “Mission X.” He also shares insights into the government’s role in managing supporters and his enduring passion for sports and national pride. Below is the excerpts from the interview.
Sir, there are so many things going on about the factions. They always refer to them as factions and all that. Please, I want you to help us clarify what is actually going on with the Nigeria Supporters Club?
The Supporters Club was once united, an indivisible family. It became a movement for this country. Unfortunately, I don’t want to mention names, but people should know that at a point in 2016, someone came to me and said he wanted a particular member to become the chairman. I told him it was possible, but only if the person went through an election. I am the President-General. I was elected. I registered the club way back in the 1990s. I became the National Chairman in 1990, and by 1991, I had registered the Supporters Club with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Then I moved out of Nigeria. I went to Côte d’Ivoire in 1992 to launch the Supporters Club’s international chapter. From there, I went to Ghana, Gambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, and the Benin Republic. By 1995, I was in the United States, in New Jersey. At the Giants Stadium, I officially launched the Supporters Club. Then I moved to England in 1997, followed by France, Italy, Holland, and other European countries. I was in Ireland that same year, physically present to officially launch the Supporters Club in all those countries. As I speak, we have Supporters Clubs in Brazil, Russia, Australia, Chile, China, and many other countries around the world.
Then again in 2016, someone came to me and said a particular man had to be chairman. I told him that was possible, but he had to go through an election. The man insisted I should appoint him, and I said no. The Supporters Club has a constitution, and the constitution clearly states that whoever wants to become an officer must go through an election. Because I refused to bend the rules, they told those people to break away. They did. Everybody knows the story. I don’t want to revisit it because I’m an old man now, and I have to let go of the past.
Thirteen of them broke away, just thirteen out of thousands of members. On the day we were holding our national election in Nigeria, which the National Chairman oversees for all state chapters, they went to Abuja and conducted a separate election. Thirteen of them, and all thirteen became officers. Meanwhile, at our election in Surulere, Teslim Balogun Stadium, we had 250 delegates present. Somebody won that election, and those people fought him. Eventually, the thirteen people who broke away split again into four different groups because they couldn’t stay together. That’s the reason for all the factions.
But we are not angry. We are focused on what we know how to do best. We are patriotic, and we know that what we are doing is selfless. We want to project a good image for Nigeria. That’s why we continue. Nobody pays us. We use our own money, even at the risk of our lives. We pay to go to stadiums, buy tickets across the world, and we are happy to do so. Whatever the case, I still believe in the Supporters Club all over the world.
You mentioned the 1980 campaign in Germany. Does that mean the Supporters Club existed before you registered yours in the 1990s?
Yes, the Supporters Club had already existed. I became a member in 1977. I was the first national flag bearer for Nigeria. When you saw the team come out of the tunnel, names like Segun Odegbami, Muda Lawal, Christian Chukwu, and others, I was the one carrying the Nigerian flag. I did that for thirteen years before I became chairman.
Because I had traveled widely and seen what was missing, I decided to register the Supporters Club. Before then, no one had thought of registering it. Since I did that, I’ve been referred to, and am still referred to, as the official founder of the club because previously there was no proper record of what we were doing.
Why was your faction of the Supporters Club, especially the one under Rafiu Ladipo, not in Morocco to cheer the Super Falcons?
The issue is the government. They don’t have the capacity or the capability to run the Supporters Club. You don’t wait on the government for money. Supporters Club is about supporting the team with our own resources, selflessly, and even at risk of our lives. We are Nigerians, and we must play our part in projecting the country positively.
What the government is trying to do now is to unite all the factions.
Is it possible?
I don’t think so. A proper Supporters Club should be present before, during, and after competitions. But in this case, we’re made to wait for the NFF or the Ministry of Sports to airlift us. For example, they once flew us from Lagos to Kigali in Rwanda. We went from the airport in Lagos to the stadium in Kigali and back to Nigeria, all in one day. That is not how it should be.
A real Supporters Club would have been in the host country days before the competition began. We would mobilize fans, encourage locals to support the Super Eagles or any Nigerian team playing. But that wasn’t allowed. So yes, the idea of uniting the factions is good, but do they have the capacity to do it?
Government doesn’t even have enough money for the teams themselves. We, the passionate supporters, go out and raise funds to take ourselves there. We buy tickets, pay accommodation, feed our members, everything until the competition ends. Will government do that? No. That is why they are not in a position to run the Supporters Club.
What then is your advice?
What I would advise is that since there are now about six factions, many created through NFF influence, the government should not try to erase history. They have even said they don’t have the power to deregister any Supporters Club.
My own Nigeria Football Supporters Club is now 70 years old. Are we supposed to throw all of that away? In 1994, we were rated best in the world by FIFA. CAF gave us similar accolades on many occasions. Are we to forget all of that? No. Let each group operate independently.
Let the government invite the various leaders and say, “We want to help you.” Whatever they want to offer should be clearly explained so it can be shared among the groups. Let each group mobilize their own members in their countries to support the national teams.
What can you tell us about your relationship with Chairman Christian Chukwu and Dodo Mayana?
I was very close to both of them. I used to lead the players from the dressing room to the tunnel. We often had deep conversations. When I spoke, they listened, not because I was just a supporter, but because they respected my insights, especially on technical matters, which I will not go into now.
Dodo Mayana was particularly close. He frequently came to my office. In fact, during the 1994 tournament in Tunisia, I was the one who recommended that he be in goal. Coach Clemens Westerhof listened, and he came back with the cup. I was close to Christian Chukwu, close to Dodo Mayana, and also to Bisi Mbataku. As we speak, I am still the President of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control.
Can you give a tribute to them?
They came and served Nigeria selflessly and meritoriously. We must thank God for their lives. Though they have passed on, many countries would have loved to have men like them as their citizens. But they didn’t have that grace. We thank God we had them.
Finally, what are your words to the Super Falcons for completing Mission X?
Mission X is complete, it has been accomplished. Is there any other country in Africa that can match that record? Ten championships, who can equal that? They have done exceptionally well. You saw the match, two goals down in the first half, but they came back strong and took the game to the Moroccans, and it paid off.
At the end of the day, we say congratulations to the Super Falcons, and congratulations to Nigeria.
