Here’s a big moment in history for all followers and lovers of the Nigerian sports media. The big news of this weekend is the return of ‘Eagle Eye’ as a regular weekly publication … and this edition is the first on my epoch making comeback track.
Go tell it on the mountain, over the seas and everywhere, Sam O’Femi Fasetire is back on the sports beat! Let’s blow the trumpet loud for every ear to hear, by the grace of God – my much talked about column (Eagle Eye) will be splashed on this page every Friday henceforth.
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To God be all the glory, for providing a helper in Jide-Ojo Olusola, who insisted that I must make a spirited return to the terrain that made me a fans’ favourite at Complete Football, Complete Sports and Brila FM.
Not that I completely left the sports reporting scene, but my advent into teaching meant everyone started seeing me as a teacher rather than first and foremost as a journalist. That became a recurring decimal in my tale of transformation since I became a full-time teacher in the year 2020.
However, the inspiration God gave me to write four scripts in a series that I titled ‘SWAN’s Forgotten Heroes’ stirred the hornet’s nest, as many colleagues and some of my seniors in the pen trade started putting pressure on me to storm back.
Thanks so much to my first editor at Complete Football, Alhaji Mumini Alao, as well as my erstwhile ‘editorial supervisor’ at Complete Sports, Samm Audu for recently acknowledging my writing skills. So too did a colleague who became my boss at SportsDay, Desmond Ekwueme, who last week pointed out that my scripts remain ‘vintage in quality.’
Kudos too to Pius Ayinor, Ikenwa Nnabuogor, Afolabi Gambari, Emma Jemegah, Morakinyo Abodunrin, Amar Ignis, Ralph Chidozie-George, Godwin Enakhena, Solomon Ajuziogu, Frank Ilaboya, Toyin Ibitoye, Bimbo Adeola, Akeem Busari and Ojeikere Aikhoje, who have over the past five years dropped a word or two about the impact they felt I could still make on the beat.
Such accolades from them and lots of other zealots left me thinking of enacting a historic comeback, but I dilly-dallied until Jide-Ojo came calling. So, I doff my hat to the one I dubbed ‘Magic Fingers’ during our days together at Brila FM. I became even more excited when he informed me that his core focus with Sports247 is the grassroots terrain.
He also spoke abour his plan to organise an annual awards ceremony specifically for grassroots sports. That won me over twice as more and I quickly promised to give some additional inputs into my involvement with this trailblazing and pacesetting website.
So, here we are – the return of Eagle Eye …. with farther reach, deeper depth, better informed content and much more potent impact. Watch this space every Friday, and you’ll be glad you did…
