Kano Pillars chief coach, Ahmed Garba, who is popularly known as Yaro Yaro, could be said to be among those who were born to be pathfinders in African football, but sometimes, life plays out against some of the best potentials in any field.
Yaro Yaro was so good during his time that he almost secured a move to German Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, but a fraudulent football agent from Ghana frustrated the deal, according to the 44-year-old coach.
Unlike most footballers, Yaro Yaro wasn’t born into a typically regular Nigerian home as his late father was in the military and his mother was a practising nurse. Despite this relatively comfortable background, he chose to pursue a football career.
The former Nigeria international, who was born on May 24, 1980, started his professional football career in 1993 at Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) club, Kano Pillars, as a youth team player and developed into a full-blown professional footballer there.
Yaro Yaro Lands Contract From Borussia Dortmund:
Due to how good he was, the former Nigeria international landed himself a contract with German Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund when he was just 17 years old after a successful trial. Unfortunately for him, the Ghanaian agent who linked him up with the German club ensured that the contract was tailored to enslave the player for eight years.
“The agent came to my apartment telling me that I signed a contract for 8 years at that moment. And no matter what will come for me in that 8 years, it is going to his account directly”, Yaro Yaro told Naija News in an exclusive interview.
“So, it was when we came back requesting for my ITC at that moment, then it was our former chairman, late Isiakou Mohamed, who requested that they cannot afford to sign an agreement or to release me with the contract written in the German language.
“They have to find somebody to translate the contract so that they will know what is in the contract. So, they sent the letter, the contract paper and the letter, they sent it to the NFF [Nigeria Football Federation], which is the NFA at that moment… And they came and translated the contract.
“That is when they find out exactly what the contract is. So, at that moment, Sanitoro, who is the NFA secretary-general, at that moment, he even seized my passport and kept it with him because they were thinking that the man would take me back because he was the one who was following up on everything.
“At that moment, they found out that I was 17 and they then cancelled everything because of that. It was at that moment they came up with a rule that no player under the age of 17 would sign a contract. This rule started when I had that problem.”
No retreat no surrender
Despite this huge setback, Yaro Yaro continued with his football career at Kano Pillars, where he got called up to the senior national team of Nigeria at just 18 years old. The retired striker made 6 appearances for the Super Eagles in which he scored a goal from 1998 to 2003 before he retired from international football.
Amid his time with the national team, Yaro Yaro played club football outside Nigeria with clubs in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia before he returned to Kano Pillars to continue with his career.
Yaro Yaro said, “From Saudi Arabia, I come back to Kano Pillars, continue playing. Immediately after three months, I played in the Cup Federation Cup, in which we successfully won the cup that year. Immediately after we finish, I get another contract in Denmark (with Akademisk Boldklub); I spent four years in Denmark.
“Lastly, I decided to come back and play in the last season I want to resign. That is, I came back, and I played with my team, Kano Pillars. I helped the team win the league for the first time in 2008.
Then from there, after one year, I resigned and I went to study coaching.
“I finished NIS, and when I finished, I joined courses like Batch C. I have the certificate of all these. And I’m among the chosen coaches that went to London when the national team sent their coaches to go for seminars…
“And this is how I joined Kano Pillars. When I finished studying, I joined Kano Pillars as a third assistant. Then the following year, I went to the senior team from the junior team and as a fifth assistant.. I’m getting promotions from third assistant to second assistant up to the position I am now as a chief coach.”
The Magical Yaro Yaro
Yaro Yaro might not be as famous as some Nigerian football icons like
Victor Ikpeba, Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, and a host of others, but he was so good during his days that most of his fans described him as a magician.
Unfortunately for him, he reigned at Kano Pillars at a period when there was no social media to showcase how good he was to the world. Despite that, some clubs outside the country and the national team acknowledged his talent.
“The moment that I will never forget in my career was being invited by the Super Eagles directly from my team (Kano Pillars)”, the coach told Naija News.
“Christian Chukwu saw me playing and invited me. I started with the Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong in which I scored the big goal that qualified us for the final in 1998.”
The retired Nigeria international believes that he was so good that spectators were stunned by what he was capable of doing on the pitch.
“Firstly, if you hear my name when you come and watch me play, you can tell the person who tells you that he is doing more than what you are saying. So, it is like during that time, there were a few matches which were on video. Even after the game, if I watch the video, I cannot believe I am the one who is doing that”, he said.
“It is just natural. I cannot believe what I am doing. People are telling me that they cannot believe this; it is magic. But it is not…
“This is what I like. I like to play football since my childhood.”
Biggest Regrets
Yaro Yaro’s football career didn’t go as smoothly as he wanted it to be. Due to that, the skilful forward wasn’t able to maximize his potential in the game, no thanks to the kind of agent he had then.
The Kano-born footballer noted that his biggest regret as a footballer was not able to secure a move to Borussia Dortmund even though the German side had drawn up a contract for him. He blamed this outcome on his Ghanaian agent who wanted to fraud him.
“Honestly, my biggest regret is when I went to a big team like the European Champions, Borussia Dortmund”, Yaro Yaro said.
“Unfortunately, the contract didn’t work. But I’m annoyed, and I’m regretting that the manager (agent) didn’t allow the contract [to stand]. I would have been the first person to join the team from Nigeria.
“The manager is from Ghana. His name is Alah Osa. He lived in Lagos before…”
Skills like Messi and Ronaldo
Coach Ahmed Garba, who is popularly known as Yaro Yaro, could be said to be among those who were born to be pathfinders in African football, but sometimes, life plays out against some of the best potentials in any field imaginable.
There have been a good number of skilful individuals who were not properly recorded due to the unavailability of social media or low access to recording technology during their active years. Yaro Yaro, who believes he was nearly as good as the iconic Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, fell into that category.
One can hardly see any clip of him on YouTube, but he is lucky enough to have been noticed by Nigeria’s national team and a big club like Borussia Dortmund, which missed out on his signature in the last minute.
In an interview with Naija News, Yaro Yaro stressed that if there was a social media presence to record how good he was, he would have been compared with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“Honestly speaking, even if within that time there was social media, even phone, by that time there is not even a cell phone in Nigeria, they would have been comparing us with Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi”, he said.
“Messi and Ronaldo with their record… But, you know, every player has his advantage. No matter how, even if they will give Messi a Ballon d’Or. But there is something that Cristiano can do that Messi cannot do.
“So, every player has his advantage. But they are always comparing the positive advantages.
“Officially, in football, scoring goals is one of the most important. No matter how well you are playing. But before, they believed in a very good football.
“But now, all you need is a point. And you get the goal. Every match you watch, you see that somebody who scored two goals more than somebody who had 90 minutes…”
Comparing football during his days and present days, the coach said, “Now, you people, the media, are the ones that improve the game of football now. But before, it is physically football.
“But now, it is the media that are playing honestly. 50% of the game, you people are the ones that are assisting these footballers. Even they know where they are.
“But due to media, you understand, you can see a player that maybe he is better than those that played before. So, that is it.”
From the pitch to the sidelines
After a relatively impressive active football career, Yaro Yaro has ventured fully into coaching and he is currently the chief coach of his boyhood club, Kano Pillars.
When asked how he feels to be named the coach of the club that made him a superstar, Yaro Yaro said it has always been his dream to coach his home team.
“Those that watched us, see how we suffered for the team, bringing the team to where it is, are always assisting us to help the team and we continue”, he said. “You know, football, if you are in the system, most of the time, it is difficult for you at once to change…
“I have an interest to continue to help the team before I get another place to go. And I believe that I am so impressed seeing most of the people that always coming up, and we see most of the young boys that people are recognizing, they can bring them out. The same thing we bring to the junior team.
“Almost most of the players in the senior team, they are the ones that we bring out from the junior team. So, I am so impressed and I am so happy to continue assisting my home team, which is where I spent all my life with the team.”
Like every ambitious professional, Yaro Yaro doesn’t want to end his coaching career at Kano Pillars. He told Naija News that he wishes to not only coach other clubs in the north but wants to have a taste of national team football as a coach and also wants to coach clubs in eastern Nigeria.
Kano Pillars Struggling
Kano Pillars have not been at their best in the last four years. They have gone through relegation and just returned from the managerial crisis, which saw some drastic changes in the coaching crew.
Despite all that, they are still struggling in the ongoing 2024-2025 NPFL season in which they have recorded 7 wins, 4 draws, and 7 defeats in 18 games. The inconsistent run has left them in the 9th spot on the league table.
On why Kano Pillars are currently struggling, Yaro Yaro said: “Honestly, we are the last team this season to prepare. Because of the little crisis and the changing of the technical crew, bringing another and changing of board members, you know, the government always want to bring the best. So, honestly, it was three weeks before the kick-off we started preparation for the league.
“What I am saying is, I can’t even believe at this moment that we have been in this 9th position. Because most of the team, they prepare 3 months, 4 months, 5 months before. But let me tell you, we prepare ourselves on the road.
While we are playing friendly matches. We prepare this team in two weeks only. Only two weeks, three weeks, before we start full training with registered players for the league. That is how it is.
“So, we know, it was almost 70% of the players are new. So, at least, it is hard for even the technical advisor that I am assisting; it is even difficult for him because he doesn’t know the players. Only those that we were with them last season can we give any information about them.
“So, it is just like all this first round; it is like we want to see who can do, who cannot do. We worked a lot, but we experienced a lot. And we are going to reshape the team by this second round.”
Advice to active footballers
As a footballer who couldn’t actualize his full potential due to the football agent he worked with, Yaro Yaro has advised up-and-coming players to be careful who they make their agents.
The chief coach said, “There are so many fake agents. They [some players] are duped because they are eager to go outside the country. They go and collect money from their family, thinking that they will take them to a team with which they don’t even have any contact with anything.
“So, let the players stay and concentrate, play. You are playing for your team; you will get offered to go everywhere in the world. Unless you are not good.
“In football, no matter what you have, invest it, because there is injury and there is time that you resign and there is time that you quit or that you cannot play.
“So, you have to live your life and think of no matter what you have, you invest and think for a better tomorrow. And think you cannot continue playing forever. If you are a coach, you cannot coach forever.
“So, do the right thing and you make sure you leave a very good reputation for yourself.”
The post Exclusive: Ghanaian Agent Frustrated My Borussia Dortmund Move – Kano Pillars Coach Yaro Yaro Reveals appeared first on Naija News.