ANTHONY Kojo Williams is definitely more than what we know about him. His passion for football, outspokenness, impeccable style and Spartan strictness, are the things we know him for. But he is definitely a lot more than what you knew.
He is a deep spiritual thinker, consummate art collector, avid reader of books, close to being called a vegetarian, keep-fit freak and lover of cars.
The former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Chairman spoke with TAIWO ALIMI about his interests and more at his home on Victoria Island. It is vintage Kojo. Excerpts:
He is a deep spiritual thinker, consummate art collector, avid reader of books, close to being called a vegetarian, keep-fit freak and lover of cars.
The former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Chairman spoke with TAIWO ALIMI about his interests and more at his home on Victoria Island. It is vintage Kojo. Excerpts:
Let’s start from the very beginning, how was growing up like in a famous Lagos family?
My Growing up was quite interesting because I come from a strong Lagos family. My grandfather was in Igbosere, where my father grew up and I used to spend time there as a little boy. I have very good understanding of Igbosere Campus Square. My mother too was from a prominent Lagos family. I still look back and see the Lagos of the 1960, when I used to watch horseracing at the Tafawa Balewa Square as early as age 7. Then, I would go to Onikan Stadium to watch football. There is a Love Garden there where we now have Muson Centre, and Lagos was fun. Then I also spent time at Ikeja GRA with my dad, later Surulere, Apapa, Surulere and Ikoyi where my grandfather was at a point. Therefore, I’m a boy of many parts and I see many parts of Lagos growing up.
I also tasted boarding at a very early age. Dad wanted me to understand the norms of the society, so at the age of seven, I was taken to Ibadan where I was enrolled at Children Home School and from there to Omolewa Nursery School. Then, I went to St Peters College Abeokuta, which I’m very proud of, and from there I went to England to continue my secondary school and A levels.
During the holidays, I remember that my dad used to take my late brother and I to holidays abroad and we would come back to Ibadan or Abeokuta.
Can you compare the Lagos of your boy time to that of now?
You cannot compare. Lagos was so peaceful. I remember my grandparents do not shut their doors, the weather was cool, the environment very clean. We used to have inspectors who checked out your houses and business environments. Lagos has always been an advance city I saw when the Old City hall was demolished and another was being built. Lagos was beautiful. A dog couldn’t walk the street without a licence, and bicycles had licences or permits to use the road. Vendors selling food also had to have their licence.
When did all these change?
It started after the oil boom, after the Civil war. There were many people coming to Lagos and everything just changed.
Let’s talk about your famous dad, Chief S.B Williams, how was it growing up under his tutelage?
My father was an extremely loving father. Hardworking and creative. He was ahead of his time. He had style. He was very quiet and humble. He had a lifestyle that he cherished and he inculcated that in us. What he used to tell me then was that ‘look, you must always be yourself. Have your own identity’. He gave me a lot of confidence with support for whatever I wanted to do. That made me to be highly creative. He was somebody that I remember never swore. He was an extremely gentleperson with lots of exposure. One thing I also learnt from him is not to look down on anyone. He chose his friends well and he would tell me, ‘this one is my friend, that one is my acquaintance.’ However, he would treat all of them nicely.
So, it is easy to say that you got your style from your father.
Honestly, it is just a natural thing. I got it from my parents and grandparents as well. My parents had it and travelling with my dad, we do things together. We go shopping together and we buy things together. He just put it in us.
But, let me say that style itself is a natural thing; it is either you have it or you don’t. I have my own style.
I am not crazy about labels. I don’t identify with a particular label. I look for a good cut and not names. I’m not freaky about labels but look for what suits me, what fits. It has to fit my body shape, mode and my mood as well. I don’t look at other people’s fashion. I do things my own way.
In 1999 at age 39, you became the NFA chairman. Eighteen years after, you are older at 57 and wiser; looking back, do you think you would have done things differently?
Not really, I guess I would not do much differently. I know with age, you are bound to be more calm and matured. But, I wouldn’t have changed my ideology. What I wanted then is still the same thing I want now. It is still the same thing I am saying now. Maybe, I would have done less talking so that they would not know what I am planning. But, I would have done the same thing because it is the way forward. Probably, the approach would be different. Then, I would not give up my dream or idea for what I know is good for the nation for mediocrity. No.
Those things that you kicked against in 1999, in your observation, do you think things have changed?
No. it has not changed at all! Rather, it is getting worse. I don’t want to blame anyone or apportion blame. What I just want to say is that we need to move forward. We must go back to the foundation of football development, sport development generally, take it down and rebuild it. We must have a proper philosophy of what a brand is. We must sit down and ask ourselves, why do we celebrate the English, Spanish and Italian Leagues and we don’t have a good league? Why do we celebrate national teams of other countries and we don’t have a one? The bottom-line line is certainly bad philosophy. Sadly, we had one before and we threw it away.
Our identity is robust football: physical, fast, athletic football, and passing football. Really, because we don’t have a good league system, our youngsters are technically sound. What Clemens Westerhof did then was to build these boys, with what he had then, around this principle. Play up that physical and athletic power attributes and blend them into a team. I remember that my late dad paid Westerhof for three years in order to stabilise him because he saw the sense in what he was doing.
In fact our players do not have that attributes again and so we have to go back to that. I think many of our players now eat foreign foods and lack the basic African power that we used to have. It’s a shame and we need to look at what suits us. For example, Nigerian kids are naturally endowed; we don’t have to go into the gym to have a six-pack body. We are naturally endowed. The European kids don’t have that. We need to build on what we have.
Are you saying even our indigenous coaches cannot help us since they are made from this system that worked for us in the 90s?
I don’t think we have it yet. All this is in the blueprint that was developed while in office at the Glass House. Coaches have to have antecedents, winning attributes, and records, especially. You don’t need to go bring names, you can bring a youth coach that has won laurels and he can convert a whole national team to a winning team. But, then you as an FA must be able to sit with these coaches and develop an understanding, a philosophy that would move the game forward, technically speaking. That is developing same philosophy that would be taught from the U-14 to U-17 and they graduate from one state to the other. Unfortunately, our league hasn’t got this, so where are the indigenous coaches coming from? When you don’t have this, how do you hope to develop? Basically, football is for the youth, when last did we have a truly u-17 player playing in the national team? But in Europe, you have them and they are not even better than we are. It is because we have not given our own lads the opportunity. Why can’t we have a drafting system, where our boys graduate from secondary school or academies to go into the league? We don’t have it. Most of our players we just pick them from the streets at random. That is not what football is all about. We must have records and so it goes with other sports in the country. So, until we do this, I don’t see us moving forward. We can talk about it for as long as it takes; if we don’t do it, we are going nowhere.
In five years, Nigeria has not gone to the Nations Cup three times. It is a shame. We patched many things, instead of destroying everything; break the wall and rebuild from the ground.
Given another opportunity to serve, would you do it again, that is go to the Glass House.
I would always be ready to serve my country.
But you are not making effort
I beg your pardon! What do you mean by I’m not making effort?
You shut yourself out of football activities in the country since 1999
I did not shut out. I simply took a back seat. Of course, I’m ready to serve my country. I’m a proud Nigerian. I served in FIFA for 12 years. I always go there to tell them as African and Nigerian ambassador that Nigeria will one day rule world football. I remember in 1994, when as a representative of Adidas in Nigeria, they had prepared a jersey for Ghana during the World Cup qualifier and they had written off Nigeria. I looked at them in the faces and told them, ‘Ghana will not go anywhere; it is Nigeria that will qualify and do Africa proud’. They refused to sign agreement with Nigeria and I told them in two months, you would be back. And indeed, they came back.
I know when we have what it takes to get there and when we don’t have what it takes, we need to build what it takes to get us there. Serving at FIFA is not a problem.
Your time at FIFA, tell us about it
It was very exciting. It was a period to gather experience, exposure on world football. Learn the rules, laws of the game, developmental and marketing aspect of the game and medical aspect. It was an opportunity to get to know a lot of people, do a lot of travelling, involve in strategies. It was fantastic and great. I started at a very early age and those wealth of experiences are there. Maybe, someday I might go for the presidency of FIFA. No one can never know. Why not, those guys there are not better than me. So, if Nigeria backs me, I will go for it.
What drives you?
What drives me is basically humanity. What God has created us to do is to give back to humanity in life, in business, socially and in everything, we do. We are like visitors here and at the end of the day, it’s only God that is the ultimate. Whatever you are, whatever you have achieved, it is because God has allowed you to and you better use it to glorify him. You remember that when one day you will account to him. So, my philosophy revolves around that. It is not that we don’t offend God; we do, but we don’t go back and do it all over again because at a point he’s (God) going to smack you. For people that stay in the dark to do evil things there is always that day of reckoning.
So, what drives me is the spirit of God that gives me all I have, that directs me, that gives me the intellect, the creativity, the know-how to do things. And because of this, I bow to him and give everything back to him.
You sound quite religious, that is something new
I am not religious, I’m spiritual. Religion is different from being spiritual. Spiritual is spiritual issues. Religion is like a doctrine or faith, which you must attach a lot of sentiment to. I’m not into doctrine. I’m not the dogmatic type. I look at things in a deeper manner, philosophically, in a spiritual manner and as the spirit of God directs I follow. And let me add this; this spirit is not mine, I’m only opportune to have it. It is a privilege and you do not abuse it. Use it properly. In everything you do, make sure you give back. I give back to the society, in my work I give back; intellectually I give back, even in business I give back. What I do I don’t like to disclose but I always give back.
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