Born 70 years ago, Ben-Lutnaan Duamlong retired from coaching football at the age of 65 and went back to school in 2017 to upgrade his knowledge in Fine Art, specifically Painting.
Fondly called Football Professor due to his vast knowledge and professionalism in the game, Duamlong was admitted into the Department of Fine And Applied Arts, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Jos, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from 2017 to 2021.
Coach Duamlong who specializes in painting, uses palette knife to create a tactile effect on the canvas.
He exclusively told www.ssimedia.com.ng that no matter the age, education is still very important.
“I love football, but I still have passion and talent for painting and instead of sitting at home waiting and begging to be fed or sustain and maintain the good life football has given me, which will never come, because of the society we’ve find ourselves, I had to go back to school and put my God given gift to action and hence, fend for myself.
“I will enjoin coaches and players to go to school and get themselves armed with another means of livelihood because they can’t be in football forever, they should look for a means of livelihood after retirement,” he said.
On why he did the painting of sports stars and Super Eagles players like current Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, Rashidi Yekini, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, John Mikel Obi, Nwankwo Kanu, Daniel Amorkachi, Segun Odegbami, among others, whose painting also depicts his surroundings and experiences with forms as well as the human figure, told www.ssimedia.com.ng, “I did the painting of these great sports men and women because of the impact their performance on and off the pitch of play has brought to this great Nation and their followers at large.
“Either you like it or not, their God given talents has brought joy and happiness to people,and in one way or the other brought unity and peaceful coexistence to our great country Nigeria apart from the economy and positive image they’ve given to this country; hence, my own little way of appreciating them is this my painting.”
Coach Duamlong has coached several clubsides in Nigeria, National Under-23 and was one of Coach Festus Onigbinde’s assistants to Japan/Korea 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Source: SSIMEDIA
