For many people, reaching their seventies marks a period of slowing down and looking back on a lifetime of achievements. For Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba, it has become an opportunity to begin something new.
The former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Secretary-General is back in the classroom at the age of 71, pursuing a law degree at the University of Ibadan.
His return to university recently attracted attention online after a video showing him attending classes with other students circulated on social media. The video, shared by his daughter, Rihanot Ojo-Oba, offered a glimpse of the septuagenarian participating in university life alongside a much younger generation of students.
Ojo-Oba was among the students admitted to the University of Ibadan for the 2025/2026 academic session and was formally matriculated in March 2026.
But behind the viral moment is a story that goes beyond an elderly man returning to school.
It is the story of a professional who, after decades of public service and football administration, decided that there was still another ambition worth pursuing.
A dream that waited for decades
Ojo-Oba’s decision to study law is linked to an ambition he had carried for years.
His experience in football administration also played a role in the decision. During his time with the NFF, he was involved in a prolonged legal dispute, an experience that gave him a closer understanding of the importance of legal knowledge in sports administration.
Rather than allowing the years to close the door on that ambition, he chose to return to formal education.
The decision has given him an unusual distinction: he is now combining decades of professional experience with a new academic pursuit.
A career built across different fields
Ojo-Oba’s latest academic journey is far from his first encounter with higher education.
Born in Ibadan on January 7, 1955, he studied French at the University of Lagos, where he also obtained a master’s degree in the discipline.
His professional interests later shifted towards sports administration. He went on to earn both a master’s degree and a doctorate in Sports Administration from the University of Ibadan.
His working life has been equally varied.
He entered the civil service in 1989 as a Senior Bilingual Secretary with the National Sports Commission and subsequently took on a series of responsibilities within Nigerian sports administration.
He headed the International Competitions Department of the Nigeria Football Association between 1990 and 1992 before becoming Head of the Competitions Department from 1992 to 1995.
He later headed the organisation’s Marketing and Sponsorship Department.
His career also took him into government. Between 1997 and 1999, he served as Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture.
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He subsequently returned to federal service, rising to the position of Assistant Director at the Federal Ministry of Sports and Social Development.
His years at the NFF
One of the most notable periods of Ojo-Oba’s career came when he became Secretary-General of the Nigeria Football Federation in 2007.
He held the position until 2010, placing him at the centre of Nigerian football administration during a period when the country’s football attracted considerable attention both domestically and internationally.
His career extended beyond Nigeria as well.
Ojo-Oba served in different capacities within international football structures, including responsibilities associated with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA committees.
Those experiences gave him a career spanning government, sports administration and international football.
Now, law is adding another dimension.
Why his return to school matters
Ojo-Oba’s decision to return to university challenges the idea that education belongs only to the young.
His story illustrates a different approach to learning—one in which education can continue alongside, and even after, a long professional career.
It also shows how professional experiences can inspire new academic interests. For Ojo-Oba, years spent navigating the complicated world of football administration helped reinforce his desire to understand the law more deeply.
At a time when many people associate university life primarily with young adults beginning their careers, his presence in the classroom offers a strikingly different picture.
He is not starting from scratch.
He is bringing more than three decades of professional experience into the classroom.
A new chapter at 71
Ojo-Oba’s journey from a French graduate to a senior public servant, sports administrator, football executive and now law student has been marked by several changes in direction.
Each stage has added something different to his experience.
His decision to pursue another degree at 71 may therefore be less about changing his past than about adding another chapter to it.
For younger students sitting alongside him, his presence may serve as a reminder that ambition does not necessarily have an expiry date.
And for Ojo-Oba himself, the classroom represents the pursuit of a goal that he was not prepared to leave unfinished.
At 71, he is once again a student—and proving that there can still be room for a new beginning, even after a long and accomplished career.
