At 87, Rev. Moses Maduforo Kingsley Iloh has seen it all. An accomplished athlete, footballer and sport administrator, Iloh says he has equally devoted much of his adulthood to promoting the Christian faith through various contributions to missionary works and theological training. Yet, he is a humanitarian par excellence.
As an octogenarian that looks forward to advancing to a nonagenarian with the pulsation of a fulfilled oldie, Iloh recalls much of the days of yore.
LIFE AS A SPORT MAN
He recasts an interesting story that played out in his Jos, Plateau State home: “My father, George Iloh, was a sport enthusiast and one of the proprietors of the notable football club in my area, The Royals. So during one of the crucial matches played by The Royals, my father, my elder brother and I played in the same team and it was enchanting seeing a father and his two sons playing different wings in the same football club.”
Thus the Iloh family made history and the news spread to Ropp, the mining community of Barikin Ladi Local Government area of Jos, which is their native village. Soon, from the little village football player, Iloh advanced in his soccer career, to play for big teams of his era. In the mid-1950s, he served as captain for the Jos-based Almatinco Football Club, owned by Amalgamated Tin Mines Company, which incidentally was Nigeria’s first professional football club. Remarkably too, that club was the first football team in Nigeria to parade players wearing boots! He recounts that it was either players were engaged bare-footed or were wearing rag-tag, assorted home shoes.
Among Iloh’s teammates at the Almatinco of Jos was legendary Teslim Balogun, Nigeria’s renowned football striker and folk hero, who football fans of his era reputed as capable of scoring the goalkeeper and the ball together!
Iloh, beyond soccer, is also a professional cyclist and he served as National President of Nigerian Cycling Federation for 15 years. He is currently a member of the cycling body both in Africa and at the world level. In the same vein, he has held forte as patron of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, after serving in it for over 20 years.
Among Iloh’s teammates at the Almatinco of Jos was legendary Teslim Balogun, Nigeria’s renowned football striker and folk hero, who football fans of his era reputed as capable of scoring the goalkeeper and the ball together!
HUMANITARIAN NATURE
A life member of the Nigerian Red Cross society, Iloh believes that contributing to humanity is a virtue inherent in him and not just because is a Red Crosser. He remembers a heart-moving story of his early childhood. “At the age of six, I trekked a distance of 31 miles in order to get medical help for my ailing brother. This was perhaps the beginning of my incursion into humanitarian efforts.”
Through the Red Cross activities, Iloh innocuously made history, way back in 1960. He led the Red Cross parade at Nigeria’s Independence ceremony at the now Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, during which he pulled down the British Red Cross Flag and hoisted the Nigerian Red Cross flag. He later became the National Training Officer for the Red Cross and when the Nigerian civil war broke out, he was appointed Head of the Biafran Red Cross by the Biafran leader, General Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, as he then was.
CHRISTIAN LIFE
In the Christian faith, Moses Iloh apparently started out early, stressing, “From childhood, I have been very fervent with the things of God.” He was barely 10 years old when expatriate missionaries led him to Christ while playing football in the city of Jos. Interestingly, three of the missionaries that helped convert him to Christianity, later in life, became his church members.
Like rivulets trickling down the cottage rack, Iloh’s fervency in Christ after having been converted at age 10, began to increase in leaps and bounds. In 1941, just a year “after I met Christ, 100 new souls were won into God’s kingdom”, by Iloh. “The missionaries, led by Dr. Stir Ret, then rewarded me with a book called, ‘The Ladder that Reached Heaven’.”
Since age 10, Iloh at 87 says he has never looked back in his Christian race. He is currently the Presiding Steward of Soul Winning Chapel and a frontline member of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.
Besides, didactic Iloh is atop a social reform Christian group known as Eclectic Network. He says he raised the group towards ensuring righteous political leaders for the society. His background in labour union activities, apart from his Christian faith, may have also influenced his poise to advocate radical changes in political thinking.
For instance, as a labour union leader in the 1950s, young Iloh was President of the 40,000-strong African Miners Union. He spearheaded the historic African miners’ strike which almost disrupted the visit of the Queen of England to Nigeria in 1958; a march that yielded tremendous improvement in the condition of service of African miners.
Specifically, he says his Eclectic Network targets Christians in politics who are expected to live above board and serve as examples to others in the society.
“The only place you can prove a man to be a real Christian is in politics. Politics is the yardstick for testing courage, transparency, boldness, honesty, constitency and love for your neighbour,” he observes.
Iloh, who is married to Rev. Edith Chikodili Iloh, is blessed with five children, namely, Morley, Aretha, Daniel, Moses and Edith.
