Morris Atula: the man who has seen it all in wrestling

His legacy lasted for decades as the only wrestler that represented Nigeria worldwide wearing green white green, his trademark dressing costume, in many different states in Nigeria, different countries in Africa, in the Caribbean Islands, European nations and at different cities in America during his wrestling career.

The former World Light Heavy Weight Pro Wrestling Champion known as ‘’The Golden Warrior’’ during his active days who started wrestling at the tender age of fourteen years old when it was newly established and introduced to the Nigerian shores by Coach Mike Bamidele of blessed memory, has seen it all in the world of wrestling from competing as an amateur to becoming a professional, a coach, administrator and now a promoter of appreciable repute.

He started as Lagos State amateur champion, and went on to become a national champion and later African champion before joining pro wrestling. As a great amateur wrestler in his days, Morris won several laurels and awards before he became a trainer in Ogun State and later a trainer in Niger State where he pioneered the amateur wrestling industry in the area. It was from Niger state where he made a tour to the USA where he became World Light Heavyweight champion before coming back to Nigeria and later relocating to the UK.

Morris, who was among the first group of wrestlers that started the sport in Nigeria in 1975, has indeed contributed a quota to wrestling development locally and at the international level. Considering his unfailing support for the development of amateur and later professional wrestling, Morris, who has been a seasoned sports administrator, sponsored the Morris Atula Cadet Amateur Wrestling Championships in Edo state, Nigeria in 2021 and the tournament brought school kids from the 18 Local Governments based in Edo state. He is also the brain behind  promoting and managing the Pro Wrestling World Federation (PWWF), an international wrestling body operating from London, UK, which has been set up to rebrand African Wrestling talents and rating Nigerian and African pro wrestlers to contest with their counterparts worldwide. The body is also aimed at restoring the Nigerian nation’s lost glory on the global sports scene of which Nigerian pro wrestling is a great part.

After his successful wresting career, Morris Atula embarked on uplifting projects to boost human capacity such as single handedly organizing and hosting the Nigeria @ 50 International Marathon in Abuja to mark the Nigeria Golden Jubilee celebration after the first bomb blast in Abuja. The race’s objective was to prove to the international community that after all Nigeria is safe. The Marathon was hugely successful.

In the year 2011, after returning back to his base in the United Kingdom, the Golden Warrior established Multi Sport Academy, London in England aimed at providing support for deprived talented young people to help them to participate in sports of their choice. Thereafter, he established Modern Learning Academy in London, aimed at providing young people neutral space away from home and school pressures, a conducive environment to study at ease without parental and teacher’s pressures.

Morris is the Managing Director of 1st Healthcare Ltd UK. The company he established in 2014, the irony of the matter was that he studied for 6 years in the college and University in UK to obtain the necessary qualification in order to be able to manage the health care company and that is an incredible achievement. Golden Warrior has established the highest quality Health care service provider in Nigeria called "1st Health Service" aimed to provide Health care in the rural, urban and cities to get most Nigerians registered to doctor's clinics within their home, so that people can attend clinics that already have their medical records during emergency.                        

The history of wrestling in Nigeria from amateur, traditional, professional, training and promotion of the sport would never be a complete story without the exploits of Morris Atula “The Golden Warrior.”