Garba Lawal

Garba Lawal Biography / Profile

Garba Lawal was born on May 22nd, 1974 in Kaduna, Nigeria. He is a retired football midfielder who worked as the General manager at Kaduna United F.C.

Garba Lawal Age

Garba Lawal is 49 years old.

Garba Lawal Early Life

In his ealy days, he had to sneak out of the house to play football because his parents never supported his love for the game at the initial stage. They threatened him anytime he was out to play football. However, when he joined NUB and started to earn some money to support the family, they soft-pedalled.

Garba Lawal Career

Garba started his football career with a youth team, the Shooting Stars of Ade. There, he was under the same coach that brought up players like Rashidi Yekini, Tijani Babangida, Haruna Babangida and Menase Ishaka among others. When he left the club after three years, he joined the Nigeria Universal Bank (NUB) Football Club and played for the club from 1989 to 1991. That time, his monthly salary was N50. His career took an upward turn from the point he played a Challenge Cup match against the Ranchers Bees of Kaduna. He scored the only goal of that match with a header and the victory gave the team a ticket to play in the national preliminary game of what is now called the Confederation Cup. During the tournament in Akure in 1991, his team (NUB) finished third. He was however, the highest scorer in that tournament with six goals. Various scouts at the tournament sort him immediately. Although a prominent scout, Jossy Lad, was bent on having him at 3SC, he preferred playing for Julius Berger. He travelled from Kaduna to Lagos at night with Mr Abdulrasheed Ekulekule, an official of Julius Berger, to sign for the club.

Lawal has had his most successful time at Roda JC in the Dutch Eredivisie between 1996 and 2002.. He also played for Chinese side Changsha Ginde in 2007. In August 2009, he announced his return as a player-coach for Makurdi side Lobi Stars.

Lawal is regarded as one of the most versatile players in the Nigerian national football team of the 1990s and early 2000s often being used for any position ranging from defence to attack on the left wing. He took part at the FIFA World Cups in 1998, where he played a key role in the 3-2 win over Spain in Nigeria's first match of the tournament, and in 2002. He won the Olympic gold medal in 1996. He represented Nigeria at four editions of African Cup of Nations: 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006, scoring in all but the first.

He was named General Manager of Kaduna United in February 2014. In April 2015, he was embroiled in a N29.8M scandal with the club. He was accused of not properly accounting for the money paid by Celtic as part of a 20% sell on clause inserted in the deal that took Efe Ambrose to Ashdod of Israel.

Garba Lawal Personal Life

In December 2000, he got married to his heart-throb, Hauwa Zainab, at Crystal Resort, Kaduna. He is a devote Muslim.

The Nigerian former international made a shocking revelation of how an armed robbery attack at his home in Kaduna did not only cripple him financially, but also abruptly ended his career with a Chinese club.