Ladipo recalls wife’s unforgettable support for Tunde Balogun
President-General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, has yet again applauded late Alhaja Mulikat Balogun for the role she played in making her late husband Teslimi ‘Thunder’ Balogun greatest of all Nigeria’s soccer greats.
Ladipo said as much as the family celebrates today the 26th memorial of the demise of their mother, Alhaja Mulikat in Lagos.
He noted that, Alhaja Mulikat was directly and indirectly responsible for the contributions and indelible marks her husband made in Nigerian football leading to the monumental football development in the last fifty years and more.
He added: “Whenever Alhaja Mulikat was at the stadium to watch and support her husband, you are sure of a superlative performance by Teslim ‘Thunder’ Balogun. This made supporters look out for her in the stadium before kick-off. With the hope their team was out to get great results. This was the scenario, until his retirement from active football. This was the case in both local and international games.”
He stressed: “It was Alhaja Mulikat, an uncompromising football lover that reminded her husband, Teslim Balogun, his promise to return to Nigeria from England where he was playing professional football in the English League.”
The late Teslimi ‘Thunder’ Balogun, was at the time a professional soccer star with Queens Park Rangers Football Club of England.
He revealed that, ‘Thunder’ Balogun’s return to Nigeria was in fulfillment of the promise he made to the late Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who persuaded him to return to Nigeria to play for Western Rovers in the prestigious Challenge Cup, now called President’s Cup.
“She didn’t stop there, but also followed up in supporting her husband in his sojourn in the national team of Nigeria.
“She made it her duty to be physically present at all the venues where national team of Nigeria played their games supporting her husband all through massively.
“Alhaja Mulikat, was the biggest supporter of ‘Thunder’ Balogun when he played competitive club football games in the city of Lagos.
“It is believed that Alhaja Mulikat who ever presence in all those historic games he played in club football gave him the motivation to score all those unforgettable historic goals he scored in his entire football career. She was there all the time,” noted Dr. Ladipo.
