Jude Monye, a member of the silver-later-turned-gold-winning 4x400m Nigeria relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympic pays tribute to Sunday Abayomi Olanrewaju Bada, who died of suspected heart failure exactly one month ago in Lagos.


There are certain events that happen in your life and you know exactly where you were and what you were doing.  6:07pm Central Standard Time in the U.S. on December 12th was one of those days for me.  I just got off work at 6pm, got into my car, and was heading home.  As soon as I left the parking lot into the main road near my workplace, my phone rang.  I could see that it was Clement Chukwu, a member of the Nigerian 4x400 relay team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.  I picked up the phone, and Clement muttered the words, “Have you heard? ”I asked him, “Heard what?” He said, “I just heard some very sad news from Nigeria about Bada.” With a raised voice, I asked what happened. He told me that he had heard that just a few hours ago, Sunday Bada had died in Nigeria after leaving the National Stadium (in Surulere, Lagos).  I could not believe what had happened.  I had to get off of the road and drove back to the parking lot and sat in silence, overwhelmed with shock I abruptly hung up the phone as I became emotional. The darkness outside felt cold and empty.  I could not escape the overwhelming questions screaming in my mind, why did this happen?  The sadness and shock felt paralyzing.  I stared into space for a while until I could gather the strength to drive home.

I finally recovered from shock, and the 20 minute drive home seemed like an eternity.  As soon as I reached home, I walked inside and broke the news to my mother.  She screamed because she had met Bada on several occasions and could not believe it.  I kept asking myself why good people have to go so soon.  It felt ironic that the day prior, I had just held a reception for my son’s baptism, and many friends and family members were present, most of whom were from Nigeria.  We had watched the relay races from Sydney, as well as the medal presentation, and had talked about how great the race was and that we had been extremely happy at the time.  Those of us at the baptism reception, talked at length about Sunday Bada, and I remember telling my close friends that I had not spoken to Bada in a while, and I would call him the next day.

Bada was not just a teammate, but a very good friend of mine.  In fact, when I had my   son nearly a year ago, he was one of the first people to send a congratulatory message on the birth of my son.  The last time I saw Bada was one of the best times I have had with a friend.  It was in January 2009, when I visited Lagos from Benin.  The last two days, I spent with Bada.  I recall him saying that he would make the two days the best of my life.  He took me around town, and we spent a great deal of time talking about life after Track and Field.  He spent a lot of time talking about how he would like to see Nigeria go back to the glory days when Nigeria was a world force in Track & Field.  It would have meant so much to us if we had been able to get our hands on the Olympic gold medal that we had won.  The more time I spent with him, the more I saw how dedicated he was to being a police officer and also the Athletic Federation of Nigeria technical director.  He really seemed to enjoy what he was doing in life.  During those two days, it was very obvious to me that he took delight in helping current and former athletes resolve their issues; I just marveled and watched him resolve one issue at a time.  Calls came from both Nigeria and the U.S., as his phone would constantly ring.  He made sure that I was very comfortable and that I got everything that I needed.  At the end of my visit, he insisted that he would pay for my flight back to Benin.  As he saw me off to the car from his office, he told me that he hoped we would get back to this soon.  I insisted that he take some time off of work to vacation in the U.S. so I could do the same for him, but he said that his job would not allow him.  Who knew that it would be the last time that I ever saw him.

Sunday was the kind of guy who had an open mind and who touched everyone he met, one way or another.  He was an exemplary human being.  I still remember vividly my first World Championship in Sweden after coming 2nd behind Bada at the national trials, before competing in my first race I remember how nervous I was, being put in the same heat as the world record holder.  Bada noticed I was nervous, came over and asked if I was Ok. I said, “Yes,” because I was trying to play it off.  He gave me some positive and encouraging words and told me to go and do my best.  Since Track & Field is such an individual sport, it still amazes me that he was caring enough to leave what he was doing to come over and give me such comforting words.  
    Another reason I consider Bada to be not just an outstanding athlete, but a great human being, was in the way he carried himself.  Bada would beat me 9 times out of 10 that we raced, but the one time I beat him, I was not sure how he would respond.  But, to my surprise, he was very pleasant and casual about the whole thing.  He even joked with me and told me that it was about time.  The next day at the hotel lobby, my mum was visiting.  Bada came by, greeted my mum, and in his own words said to my mum, Jude na our Oga now! Abi Jude o as he affectionately calls me.  He was just that kind of person.

We have not just lost the greatest Nigerian athlete that ever lived, but also a great Humanitarian that touched many lives.  In my opinion, I consider Sunday Bada the greatest athlete Nigeria ever produced, based on achievement,titles and records.  No Nigerian athlete can claim to have an Olympic gold medal, world championship title, and three African records at the same time.  That is quite an achievement by any standard.
Sunday, I will do everything in my power to see that your name and legacy lives on, and that you are not forgotten.
Every time I use the phrase “at the end of the day” I always remember you because I know that was one of your favorite phrases. Hopefully, Nigeria will recognize and appreciate the meaningful contributions you have made to Nigerian sports in general.
 I hope that you rest in peace, my friend.  May Almighty God give the family you left behind, courage and strength, especially your wife and three kids.
Adios Sunday.
-Jude Monye was a member of the Nigeria 4x400m relay team that won a silver medal (later upgraded to gold by the IAAF following a doping failure by a member of the USA team) at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

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