The academicals competitions in various sports influenced the development of the sports in secondary schools.
Moreover, there was no material reward for winning the competitions because the sponsoring motivation was very clear – a means to a bigger end, developing elite sport and elite athletes in schools in both countries. Let me repeat for some clarity – the academicals competitions were a means to an end, not an end in themselves; a journey, not a final destination.
In 1973, Taiwo Ogunjobi played at academicals level and represented the country in the annual Ghana/Nigeria Academicals competition during which he was described as the next Pele by analysts because of the high standard of his game. Taiwo was actually 21 and in his final year of the Higher School Certificate, HSC. The following year he was invited to the national team.
No special attention was paid to the selection of the players by the time they left the country for China ’85 for the first FIFA experimental tournament. By the time the players left Nigeria for China, nobody knew them, except their coaches. By the time they returned they had become heroes, as Under-16 world champions.