At 74, the roar of packed stadiums has given way to quiet reflection. Segun Odegbami, the dazzling right-winger once known simply as “Mathematical,” no longer dwells on past goals or the multi-million-dollar contracts that define today’s game. Instead, the man who lit up Nigerian football in the 1970s and 1980s looks ahead with clear-eyed urgency. His greatest victories, he insists, were never silver trophies but the unshakeable grip he has kept on his integrity and the unconditional love he shares with his children.
When Odegbami looks in the mirror, the footballer millions still remember is never far away. “People remind me constantly about my relationship with football,” he says. “Even in maturing to the person that I am today, football has been at the core of my life’s journey—my work, my pastime, my social engagements, my projects.”
Yet age has sharpened his sense of mortality. He describes this phase as the “evening” of his journey, every extra day a bonus. Aches, the gradual withering of the body, and the loss of contemporaries have forced a new urgency: get things done now, see the positives, stop prevaricating. There is no longer a “whole lifetime ahead.”
Asked how big “Mathematical” might have become in the era of European salaries and sophisticated sports marketing, Odegbami is frank. “Ah, very big, I believe. I ‘sold’ my career too cheaply.” He played for passion and national service rather than long-term financial security. Today he would have packaged and marketed himself far more deliberately.
The public knows almost everything about the footballer and surprisingly little about the husband, companion and lover. That, he says, simply reflects the life he lived after sport. His marriage to Jumoke Tejumola, which began in February 1978, eventually collapsed under the weight of long separation. His young family moved abroad while he remained in Nigeria. Years of distance created “irreversible damage.” On 21 June 2012 the High Court in Ibadan granted the decree nisi.
“I was not a good husband,” he admits without hesitation. “I could not manage the situation I created for myself well enough.” Fame itself was not the main culprit; the freedom of living alone, accountable to no one, exacted a lasting price. He has never remarried and has publicly clarified that he is a monogamist, not a polygamist. At 74 he no longer sees marriage in his future. Companionship now means a friend with whom to share good times. The complexities of family relationships, he says, are beyond him.
The relationship that continues to intrigue the public is the one with businesswoman Oyindamola Adeyemi. Odegbami is unambiguous: she remains his best friend. They met when she was young and unaware of his fame. A family introduction ceremony took place and marriage seemed possible, but it never happened. The arrival of their son became a turning point.
“She is a sure-footed person, strong-willed and very focused,” he explains. “I was a distraction for her.” Their wide age difference, contrasting personalities and her clear sense of direction made marriage impractical. They ended the romantic side more than a decade ago yet preserved a deep friendship centred on their son.
“What went right,” he says, “is that we are still the best of friends. She is steely on the outside, but soft and tender inside—a great mother.” If he had one private minute with her today he would simply say: “Thank you for everything you have been to me, and done for me.”
Romantically, no one occupies his heart now. His children do. They call him the best father in the world, and he regards them as his closest friends. The only regret is that he wishes he had spent more time with them when they were younger. Fatherhood taught him something football never could: unconditional love.
Looking back, Odegbami would still choose football if he could start again at 18, but he would warn his younger self that fame is fleeting while education is lasting security. When the final whistle eventually blows, he hopes Nigerians will remember him for one thing above all: “He stood for integrity and good name. He came, he saw, and he made the world around him a better place.”
