Titus Okere, Only Surviving Pioneer Member of Nigeria’s Nat’l Team of 1949

Titus Okere became the first Nigeria  to sign and play for a European club, Swindon Town FC in the United Kingdom in 1953.

Okere, born March 22, 1929, first joined Ziks Athletic Club Bombers in 1938 and later played for Lagos Railways, where he captained the club. 

In February 1953, he signed a contract with Swindon Town FC, making him the first Nigerian to sign as a professional footballer and play for a European club.

As a 20-year-old, the left-winger was one of the 18 pioneer members of Nigeria’s national football team who toured the United Kingdom in August 1949. The team was then known as the UK Tourists and later the Red Devils.

Titus Okere, now 93-year-old has, since 1953, been living a quiet life in Kent, some 67 kilometres from London.

He is now the only surviving member of the team after the death of Nigeria’s first goalkeeper, Sam Henshaw Ibiam, on December 2, 2015, at the age of 91.