Oladunni Oyekale; Small Body With Big Engine

Oladunni Abel Oyekale, the new Flying Eagles Assistant Coach was born in Gombe into the family of Pa and Mrs Joseph Oyekale of Baale Osupa Compound in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

He started his primary education at the prestigious Baptist Primary School in Jekadafri before proceeding to Gombe

Government Secondary School all in Gombe, the heartbeat of Gombe State in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria.

Oladunni Oyekale, nicknamed  Cerezo, with his lanky stature and full of strength who played as a utility player during his playing days was a very intelligent, hard-working and highly disciplined player.

Favour found him during his final year in secondary school when he got Invited to play for Water Board Football Club in Gombe by Alhaji Haruna Garba, former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, becoming the youngest player to play for the Gombe based side.

The very intelligent Oyekale never allowed the breakthrough to affect his educational career as he remained focused to reading beyond the University level as his father wished.

Man proposes but God has the final say. Dunni, as fondly called by his late father, kept making waves in the game so he found himself more engraved to the round leather game and very juicy offers started coming in even though he was not after the temporary monetary benefits but the future targets he set for himself, that is, playing for his dear country, Nigeria.

A target he accomplished by the grace of God and humane gestures of certain well-meaning Nigerians whom he will forever be grateful to.

Among the teams he played for in the country are ABM Football Club in Gombe,

Mighty Jet FC of Jos,

Bank of the North FC Kano and

El kanemi Warriors of  Maiduguri where he helped his team win the National Challenge Cup Finals (Gold Medal) back to back in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

He will live to never forget his inclusion at the U-17 World Cup in Canada in the year 1987, his first-ever national call up, where he won Silver Medal.

He represented Nigeria at the historic Under 20 tournament in Saudi Arabia 1989 where the team won Silver Medal and also won a Bronze Medal for the National Under-23 at Cairo 1991 in the All African Games tournament.

His love for the game of football made him pursue his coaching career in the sector after his accomplishment as a player.

His appreciation knows no bounds to the coaches who moulded his footballing career. Among the coaches who helped to  shape his career during his player days  include;  Coach Ganiyu Salami,

Coach Sebastian Bordrick, Coach Tunde Disu,

Coach James Peters and

Coach Ayo Ogunlana, amongst others.

Oladunni Oyekale holds an Advanced Certificate In Coaching (Football) from the Nigeria Institute of Sports, Lagos,  FIFA-CAF 5 Aside Football Course (Cairo), Diploma In Coaching (Football), NIS, Lagos, CAF Licence B, and B FUT Level 4.

He has assisted many experienced coaches in the country and gained a lot of experiences. Among these noble coaches are; Coach Ben Duamlong,

Coach Akpokona,

Coach Bitrus Bearing,

Coach Hassan Abubakar, to mention but a few.

Small body with a big engine, as some of his fans call him, is a seasoned and disciplinarian coach, who was saddled with the responsibility of handling the National Coach Five Aside (Futsal) Football in 2009.

He equally tutored Crown FC and Gombe United FC to gain promotion to the Nigeria Premier League (NPFL) in 2013 and 2016 respectively but his love for his home town, Ogbomoso, made him resign from Gombe United FC that season after he saw the team gain promotion to the Elite Division, to join the Ajilete Warriors FC to see how best he can help to take the team back to the where it belongs, a very achievable feat but yet to be realised.

I join the football fraternity to wish him success, God’s guidance and guidance in the discharge of his very tasking responsibilities in his service to his fatherland.

Coach Oladunni Oyekale, Member Of The Order Of Niger (MON), happily blessed with a wife and three children still remains the Head Coach of the Ajilete Warriors FC.