Some Monasteries are located close to the Forest, Taiwo Michael Awoniyi plays for Nottingham Forest and may rightly make a monk with his good deeds. Some of his friends see him as Ilorin’s saintly star.
Awoniyi is a home boy and knows where the shoe pinches. As a Christian, he makes so much merry with his Muslim friends and has shown them the way to Mecca through sponsorship.
One of my sources in Ilorin said : “Awoniyi is cool with his friends. He sent some of them to Mecca on pilgrimage. Some got cars from him too. His coach was also honoured.”
Since Awoniyi turned professional in 2013, he has not failed to package goodies to his friends. These come in form of jerseys, boots, clothings and more. He trains with his former teammates at Sheikh Abdulkadir College, Ilorin, formerly known as Ilorin Teachers College.
Charity, they say, begins at home. Awoniyi is a twin. His sister, Kehinde, has a shop at Mandate Market Ilorin. Her twin brother spares nothing in equipping the place. Other members of the family are not complaining.
Recently, the Nottingham Forest striker visited the Ilorin General Hospital and offset the bills of some patients and doled out cash to many others. Awoniyi and hospitals have come a long way.
His dad, Solomon Awoniyi, a retired police officer, wanted the boy to train as a medical doctor. The son did train quite alright but instead of wearing white overall, chose to wear cleats and run round the field. When the man discovered the deviation, Taiwo was sentenced to bouts of beating.
What the father forgot was that sports runs in the blood. Taiwo’s uncle, Steve Onishola, was into basketball. He was so good that he ended up as a coach and was tasked with the duty of changing the fortunes of the Kwara State team, Falcons.
Taiwo has not disappointed the family, any way. He has become doctor of football to many families in Ilorin where the Taiwo Awoniyi Never Stop Dreaming Tournament holds. It is so well organised by a committee headed by Olokoide Mustapha.
Coaches Rasaq Funsho, Oba Kusi, Olojo Abdulrazaq and Musty serve as members. International Football Club, Adeta defeated Unicorn to win the trophy. The champions earned a million naira while the losers were rewarded with 750,000 naira.
The Emir of Ilorin, Justice Ibrahim Sulu – Gambari is pleased with the footballer. When the Emir visited London, Awoniyi paid him a visit. The traditional ruler offered his prayers. The prayers were not in vain as the young man found his form and led Forest out of the thick bush of relegation.
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Gambari is not just an Emir, he was a player too. Had Awoniyi come into the world much earlier, Gambari would have given him some hard tackles as a libero. He played for Ilorin Eleven in his days, before the emergence of Super Pioneers, Midland Stores, Alyusufsalam Rocks and Kwara United.
The Emir was a formidable central defender at Offa Grammar School. In the right full back position was Kola Bukoye who later joined politics and became a Member of the Kwara State House of Assembly. Generals Alani Akinrinade, David Jemibewon, Oba Oladele Olashore and Kola Belgore, attended the school too.
Gambari was Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association even as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. I remember meeting him at the NFA office, which we called Cubicle, at the National Stadium Surulere.
As Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, the Emir was a Patron of Shooting Stars. When supporters of the Oluyole Warriors descended on Kwara United, he brokered peace. Shooting Stars management and players visited him.
Awoniyi has a story to tell. After joining Liverpool in 2013, he was used like commodity and loaned out seven times. From Frankfurt in Germany to NEC in Holland, the poor boy from Olla in Isin Local Government Area of Kwara State almost became a Wanderer.
Possibly, if Liverpool loaned Awoniyi to Wolves, they would have devoured him. Instead they pushed him to Mouscron in Belgium, Gent and from there to Mainz, Germany. Instead of meeting Berlin Wall, Union Berlin gave the Nigerian international hope. The loan turned to a permanent deal in the 2021/2022 season.
Nottingham Forest invaded Berlin with British pounds at the end of that season. Their mission was to capture Awoniyi. And they succeeded. It was a club record fee of 17 million pounds. The deal eventually saved them at the end of the 2022/2023 season.
Awoniyi scored his first English Premiership goal against the same Liverpool that sent him wandering all over Europe. It came in October 2022. The Reds lost 1-0. The Eagles striker scored ten goals, all season.
The goals did not rain until towards the end. Awoniyi scored six goals in four matches. The most remarkable was the 1-0 defeat of Arsenal on May 20, 2023. It was his goal that saved Nottingham from going back to the Nationwide League forest.
Awoniyi won the 2013 FIFA Under 17 Championships with the Golden Eaglets in the United Arab Emirates ( UAE). He scored four goals, a brace in the 2-0 victory over Uruguay, one goal against Sweden in the early round and another against the Swedes in the semifinals.
Awoniyi has represented the country as an Under 17, as an Under 20, an Under 23 and as a Super Eagle. After winning gold at the African Championships as a Flying Eagle in 2015, the team failed at the FIFA Under 20 Championships.
He suffered relegation twice. Frankfurt went down in 2016. NEC met the same fate in 2017. It was a miracle by St. Michael that Nottingham did not drop to a lower league in 2023.
Taiwo’s wife is also Taiwo. The former Imperial Academy boy is now a married man, who fends for family and friends. He is equally in touch with some of his Flying Eagles 2013 mates like Kelechi Iheanacho, Isaac Success, Dele Alampasu, Chigozie Obasi, Chidiebere Nwakali, Chidera Eze and Francis Uzoho.
