How promising career of Kenya’s skillful midfielder Mohammed Nazir ‘Tostao’ was nipped in the bud

Shabana’s star has been shining bright lately, the Gusii side finally getting into the groove in the top flight, reminiscent of 1988 when “Tore Bobe” made continental headlines, qualifying for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup in which they were eliminated by Zambia’s Kabwe Warriors.

Coached by Akhbar Khan, Shabana were always difficult to beat at their Gusii Stadium fortress with players like Nyandoro, Henry Motego, Alfred Oloo “Fwaya”, Patrick Lumumba, Richard Otambo, ‘keeper-turned-striker Mike Okoth, Sylvester Mageni, Sammy Simiyu, Evans Ombuna, Peter “Kass Kass” Kamau, Kisco Kariuki Seif Puzo, et al, a constant threat to visiting teams.

Mohammed Nazir “Tostao” is one of the players of old who recalls breaking into the Shabana fortress.
Turning out for Kenya Breweries FC (now Tusker FC), “Tostao”, now 58, is one of the most stylish midfielders to have played in the Kenyan league, and was eagerly looking forward to today’s rescheduled fixture between Bandari and Shabana, just to roll back the years as he watches from the pavilion.

“Shabana walitusumbua sana siku zetu. Gusii Stadium ilikuwa balaa kweli -- Shabana really gave us a hard time in our days. Gusii Stadium was a tough venue,”  Nazzir flashes back as we catch up at an empty, refurbished Kenya Ports Authority Stadium in Mbaraki.

I had reached out to “Tostao” last week in Mombasa, just to catch up and figure out his post-football life as we reminisce on the years gone by.

“Hawa jamaa wanajua wewe ni nani kweli -- do these people really know who you are?”  I asked as we cleared the guard post at the stadium’s entry.

“Sidhani wanajua story yangu -- I don’t think they know my story,”  he responded, pulling into an empty parking lot at the stadium redone to host last month’s East African Parliamentary Games.

And, indeed, today, not many of the younger football fans know the story of “Tostao” – named after Brazil’s skilful left-footer Eduardo Goncalves de Andrade - and quite a number of elder fans must have forgotten about the midfielder who held so much promise that Bandari FC coach Mohammed Kheri took the gamble and signed him while he was on crutches, nursing a year-long injury in 1992.

Growing up in Nairobi’s Buru Buru estate, “Tostao” was the ordinary kid, kicking around footballs made out of plastic waste on open play spaces.

But “Babluu”, and later “Babla” as he was nicknamed at the time, stood out, and most of us football enthusiasts also growing up in Buru Buru couldn’t fail to notice his class.

Buru Buru was a model middle class estate and attracted the likes of British monarch Prince (now King) Charles, former Ethiopian Head of State Mengistu Haile Mariam and other dignitaries impressed by the estate’s aesthetics that were easy on the eye.

Sadly, Buru Buru is a present day eyesore, the playgrounds grabbed and chocked with incoherent structures that would irk any architect.

“We used to kick about the plastic footballs and I wasn’t really serious about football,” Nazzir looks back at his days growing up as a pupil at Nairobi’s City Primary School in the late 1970s.

“My dad used to work for the Railways and we used to live at Railways’ Ngara quarters before we moved to Buru Buru. 

“Dad was blessed and we had a black and white television set… I watched ‘Football made in Germany’ religiously and my elder brother, the late Mohammed Ali, encouraged me to always go and watch the matches.

“I recall players like (Toni) Schumacher, (Paul) Breitner and others, and that’s where my real interest in football started.”

“Tostao” had already been bitten by the football bug in 1981 when he joined Form One at the football-mad Jamhuri High School, walking into the school’s junior team that regularly featured in the “Kadenge Cup”, an age-group competition.

The Kadence Cup had the peculiar feature of allowing only players lighter than 50 kilogrammes to compete.
“After playing the Kadenge Cup in 1981, I was ruled out of the tournament in 1982 as I was hitting 52kg… I tried to cut down unsuccessfully,” Nazzir recalls.

Embarrassment of talent

But it was the same year, 1982, that he was drafted into the “Jamu” main team, switching from the wing to the midfield position owing to the embarrassment of talent the school team had on the flanks.

“At the time, “Jamu” was on a two-year suspension from schools competitions after an incident of crowd trouble and in ’82, the team hadn’t gelled well, so we didn’t perform well in the school games.

“But in 1983 the team was cohesive. We won the provincial title and made it to the nationals at Nairobi School where we reached the final and lost 2-0 to Kakamega High School.”

Multiple title-winning Kakamega High School’s “Green Commandoes”, under coach Chris Makokha, at the time boasted such great stars as Dan Musuku, Mike Amwayi, George Nyangi Odembo, Ronald Watsiera, Hezron Osuka, Mike Kisaghi, etc, many of whom later joined Kakamega’s transport ministry side Motcom FC and AFC Leopards.

“At the time I was playing on the wing… Kakamega High School players were much bigger than us and, honestly, played better football.”

After finishing his Form Four in 1984, “Tostao” was signed by Nairobi’s then most exciting club, Iqbal FC.
“Iqbal was the Nairobi ‘Dream Team.’ 

“All the top players turned out for Iqbal. The squad then had players such as John “Shoto” Lukoye, Jacob “Ghost” Mulee, Pitalis Owuor “Bobby”…” Nazzir recalls.

Others who turned out for the Nairobi Provincial League side included Ben Gachie “Gadaffi”, George “Best” Kimolo, Davies Oyiela, Johnstone Keffa Tasso and Bernard “Zico” Otieno, their rivalry with Eastleigh Sportiff highlighting Nairobi’s football landscape.

At Iqbal – initially sponsored by a city eatery, Iqbal Hotel, and later renamed Speedways in 1986 after change of sponsors - “Tostao” and “Best” Kimolo formed a rhythmic midfield that was a joy to watch, “Tostao” having shifted from the wing to the midfield owing to competition for slots on the flanks at “Jamu”, especially with the arrival of the speedy winger Dan Shikanda.

Fans still recall the midfield duo’s artistry.

“The midfield duo of Mohammed Nazzir and George Kimolo revolutionized the Kenya Breweries team from the 1989 season going into the early 1990s, making the Brewers a very potent attacking team with a new style of attacking football laced with beautiful passing compared to their predecessors from the 1980s who played a trademark robust and very physical style,” football analyst Patrick Kamanga, aptly, posted on social media a while back.

Another fan, Raymond Okech, concurred: “Tostao was just an amazing dribbler with sharp, intelligent passes which was exemplified by his intellectual acumen (an engineering student at the University of Nairobi).”

“Tostao” bursts into laughter as I asked him how he left Iqbal to join Kenya Breweries FC.

“(laughing)… It’s a long story… Now, at the end of 1986, Breweries wanted to sign Kimolo. They approached him and agreed on terms, but Speedways team manager Hassan sensed that he would lose many players.

Suspended

“As a precaution, he ‘suspended’ us -- myself, Kimolo and the late Boniface Oduor. At the time, the Kenya Football Federation regulations were that a player under suspension cannot be traded.”

Nonetheless, the Brewers signed Kimolo who blew Hassan’s cover on the ‘suspension.’

“We were Kimolo’s witnesses in the hearing of the case at Breweries.”

And, just like that, the trio joined Kenya Breweries Football Club where “Tostao” played for five years from 1987 to 1991, in the process earning his first national team cap in 1988, just after Harambee Stars won silver at the All African Games in 1987.

“Coach Mohammed Kheri called me up to Harambee Stars but with a rider the he had picked me only because he felt I had the talent and he wanted that talent to grow within the national team.”

“Tostao” made his Harambee Stars debut in 1991, playing in the 1992 Africa Nations Cup qualifiers.

“We were in the same group with Mozambique and Sudan and some Harambee Stars players had boycotted training, and so I was called to fill in the gap.

“We needed to beat Sudan and Mozambique to qualify. We travelled to Malawi for some friendlies than played Mozambique whom we beat 1-0 and then beat Sudan at Kasarani 2-1 and qualified.”

But “Tostao” missed the African finals in Senegal after picking up an injury while playing for Breweries against Kakamega’s Motcom in a league tie.

“I tore my meniscus (knee tissue) and had to undergo surgery in December, 1991, missing the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 1992. It was painful, but I had no option.”

Coach Kheri, now at Bandari FC, approached “Tostao” on the sick bed and signed him up…

“I signed for Bandari FC while still on crutches in December, 1991, as the transfer window opened, and I relocated to Mombasa in early 1992 and was employed at the Kenya Ports Authority.”

Requiring another, minor, surgery to correct an in-grown toenail, “Tostao” would sit out longer, making his Bandari debut over a year later, having joined the pre-season camp in January, 1993.

After successfully completing his ‘A’ levels at Jamhuri High School, “Tostao” joined the University of Nairobi to study land surveying and photogrammetry, with Bandari employing him initially as a Senior Clerical Assistant.

“There was a complication as I joined my third year at UoN where a new system was introduced that required confirmation letters from the chief’s level, etc, to qualify for the university loans.

“My dad (Rehmat Ullah Minas) was a British citizen and the university administration said since my dad was British, I was also a British citizen. The complications forced me to drop out of my university programme.

“The same (citizenship) issue also came up when I was called to Harambee Stars, but I was called to Nyayo House (immigration headquarters) interviewed, cleared as a Kenyan citizen and handed a Kenyan passport. At the time, I had already dropped out of the university.”

“Tostao” played for Bandari FC until 1996, then under coach Jamal Sketty, turning his focus to his employment at Kenya Ports Authority who gave him the opportunity to develop his impressive academic talent.

“There were opportunities in KPA’s Department of Civil Engineering and my little experience at the university helped me to grow through in-house training by senior surveyors.”

“Tostao” rose through the ranks, promoted to his current position as Senior Land Surveyor.

He looks back with appreciation to the opportunities KPA has provided to him and other sportsmen and women.
“There are a lot of opportunities and on-the-job training at KPA for one to develop.”

Having coached the triumphant Mombasa District Youth team at the Under-17 “Uwezo wa Kipekee” tournament sponsored by the American Embassy, “Tostao” developed interest in the technical aspects of the game and would later rise to the position of team manager at Bandari FC.

Perennial relegation

“Tostao”, a father of three boys and two girls, was part of an independent Board, under KPA’s then Managing Director (James) Mulewa and General Manager (Abdullahi) Samatar, that transformed Bandari FC from perennial relegation candidates to the force they are today, negotiating better salaries and match bonuses for the Mombasa club.

“With the low pay, as low as Sh12,000 per month, no insurance, no medical cover, no housing or transport provided, we could only previously attract players from Mombasa whose standards weren’t too high. But with improved packages, Bandari FC has been able to sign even foreign internationals, contributing to the club’s current stability.

“We also introduced a three-bedroom Bandari FC Club House that helps accommodate new players, cutting down on hotel accommodation costs,” Nazzir looks back with a sense of pride at his achievements at the Bandari FC Board.

In 2016, Bandari played continental football for the first time after winning the FKF (GOtv) Shield, and were eliminated, 3-1 on aggregate (losing 0-2 away and drawing 1-1 in Nairobi), on their debut by DR Congo’s St Eloi Lupolo.

“There is a lot of talent in Mombasa and at the Coast Region generally, but we need more competitive teams,” Nazzir concludes.

“Mombasa football died a long time ago when teams like Feisal, Lake Warriors, Wanderers etc went down. Standards were high at the time and defeating a team from Mombasa was difficult.

“This state of affairs has given Bandari FC, as the only team from the Coast in the Premier League, a huge challenge because in as much as we would like to sign players from the Coast, standards in the region have dropped a lot. Mvita Youngsters was coming up well as a team but went down and needs more support.

“At Bandari FC today, we have set the standards so high that we can’t just sign any player.”

“Tostao” bids me farewell, saying he was dashing to Kisumu the following day on a work assignment, keen to clock out his remaining two years of employment at Kenya Ports Authority on a high.

“It has been a blessed ride at KPA, and I thank God for everything,” he signs off.