ONE of the proudest moments in my journalism career happened on Friday, October 8, 1993, the day Nigeria qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time ever. I stumbled on Rashidi Yekini at the lobby of Hotel El-Aurassi in Algiers where the Super Eagles were lodged ahead of their final qualifying game against the host country Algeria. Time was 2:20pm, roughly five hours to the game that would rewrite the history of Nigerian football forever.

I asked Yekini for an impromptu chat and he went on to give me an hour-long interview. Later than night, the Eagles played a 1-1 draw with Algeria to secure the single point that Nigeria needed to qualify for the USA ‘94 World Cup ahead of Cote d’Ivoire. Finidi George was the goalscorer for Nigeria on that historic night at the July 5 Stadium in Algiers.

Three months later, I published my exclusive interview with Yekini in the December 1993 edition of COMPLETE FOOTBALL magazine which I edited at the time.  The inspired headline of my story was “THE GOALSFATHER.” Then in the January 1994 edition after Yekini had been named as the African Footballer of the Year for 1993, I put his picture on the magazine cover and titled it “YE-KING.”

Initially, neither nickname was embraced by the local media which had got used to calling Yekini by his original nickname: “Gangling Yekini.” But during the countdown to the USA ‘94 World Cup, the sports desk of the BBC Africa Service which subscribed to Complete Football adopted my creation and started addressing Yekini as “GOALSFATHER” on their popular radio programme, FAST TRACK. The local media soon followed suit and indeed the rest of Africa and the rest of the world. “The Goalsfather” legend was born and I have always been proud to be the author of a fitting nickname for the greatest goalscorer in the history of Nigerian football.

When I heard about Yekini’s sudden death last week Friday May 4, 2012, I was speechless. His former teammate at Abiola Babes FC and the national team, “Defence Minister” Yisa Sofoluwe had called to confirm whether the news he was hearing about Yekini’s demise was true. I hadn’t heard such news, so I called Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer Ike Shorunmu who resided in Ibadan with Yekini to check.
My worst fears were confirmed when Ike declared in Yoruba: “Ah, otito ni o! Yekini ti lo o! (“Ah, its true o! Yekini is gone o!).

Despite my shock, I quickly pulled myself together and asked Ike to join me in saying a short muslim prayer for the repose of Yekini’s soul. May Allah grant him Aljanat Firdaos (The best of paradise), amen.

Since Yekini’s passage, the media has been awash with various accounts of his last days. For several years now, Yekini had been rumoured to have gone mad and reports say his family finally decided to do something about it on Easter Monday, April 8, 2012. He was allegedly forcibly taken away from his Ibadan house in hand and leg chains despite his protestations that nothing was wrong with his mental health. He apparently died at the hands of those who claimed that they wanted to “cure” him.

I will not comment on the alleged cause, nature or circumstances surrounding Yekini’s death because I was not privy to the events that may have occurred. But going by the stories that have come out so far, there is definitely a need for his death to be properly investigated in order to ascertain the truth and put an end to all the speculations.

I will only write about what I know of and that is Yekini’s deeply reserved nature. He was extremely introverted and loved to be left alone. Ironically, he could also be great fun to be with when he felt like it because he had such a great sense of humour. When Yekini was in his elements, there were no dull moments as many of his teammates in the Super Eagles have already recounted. Yekini was very, very funny and he would put a lot of today’s so-called stand-up comedians in the shade by far.

The last time I spoke to Yekini was on the telephone sometime last year, 2011. News of his alleged madness was making the headlines again and I decided to re-establish contact with an old friend to see if indeed he was in need of help. Prior to then, Yekini had reportedly rebuffed all attempts by journalists to talk to him. He granted no interviews, he turned down every invitation to participate in any public event, he completely shunned the limelight that his personality and achievement deserved.
Therefore, I had to be careful how I approached him so that he didn’t shun me as well.

Surprisingly, Yekini was so warm and excited when he heard my voice on the phone. We recollected some of the times we shared together in the Eagles when he was the fearsome goalscorer and I was more or less the “official reporter” of the Super Eagles. I asked after his welfare and that of his family.
I greeted him generally but avoided requesting for an interview.

For several weeks after that initial contact, I called Yekini nearly every Friday to wish him “Happy Jummat” (the muslim special prayer on Fridays) because I knew he was very religious. Sometimes, I would just text him an admonition verse from the Holy Quran.

Even though Soccertalk readers were urging me to write about Yekini’s condition at that time, I kept my encounters with him secret because I knew he would cut me off the moment he learnt that I mentioned him in my column. My strategy was to fully regain his trust in my friendship before making the move for an interview. Then, one Friday morning, Yekini called me back to wish me “Happy Jummat!” He said he wanted to beat me to it for once. I knew then that my strategy was working. My next plan would be to visit him at home in Ibadan. But that is not going to happen anymore.

Last month, Chief Segun Odegbami shared his own recent personal encounter with Yekini with readers of his Mathematical column in Complete Sports. He had finally convinced “Ye-King” to come out of his shell, participate in youth football development and promotional projects and generally showcase himself like the true African hero that he was. Yekini, apparently now going through some difficult moments, had agreed to Odegbami’s mentoring and guidance and promised he would do as he was told. Odegbami said he had started work on the “Yekini Project” to relaunch “The Goalsfather.” I told him I was fully interested in the project and that he should carry me along. That was last month. But last week, Yekini died and the project has died with him.

If you ask me whether Yekini was mad, my answer would be “No” based on my personal encounter which I have just narrated. Indeed, he may have behaved in a weird way by choosing to live alone, allegedly ejecting his tenants and reportedly burning some of his own belongings on one occasion. At best, we could say Yekini was unpredictable and erratic. He was probably depressed because of his long habit of solitude. But I wouldn’t say he was deranged unless he was medically diagnosed to be.

There isn’t much that I can say about Rashidi Yekini’s illustrious football career that is not already in the public domain. He was Nigeria’s highest goalscorer ever with 37 goals in 58 games; he was the first Nigerian to be crowned as African Footballer of the Year when he won the title in 1993; he scored eight goals in seven qualifying matches (the highest in Africa at that time) to help Nigeria reach the FIFA World Cup for the first time at USA ‘94; and he went on to score Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal in our opening game against Bulgaria at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas  on June 21, 1994. Nigeria won the match resoundingly by 3-0 with Yekini’s opening goal arriving in the 21st minute. Daniel Amokachi (43rd) and Emmanuel Amuneke (55th) were the other goalscorers.

I remember vividly that Yekini was mocked by the local press when he first appeared on the national scene. The jest was  that he couldn’t control the ball! Well, Yekini went on to prove to everyone that he didn’t need to control any ball. He simply blasted it into the net with his long “gangling”  legs!

Apart from his goal-scoring prowess, some other traits that stood Yekini out in the Super Eagles were his humility, his discipline and his patriotism. In my interview with him in Algiers in 1993, Yekini said his goals came “directly from God.” On why he rarely got injured throughout his career, he said he didn’t smoke, didn’t drink alcohol and never missed training, so he was always fit. “If you’re fit, you will outrun your markers and they can’t injure you,” he said. On playing for his country, he said: “Even if Nigeria is playing against ants and cockroaches and I’m invited, I will play!” That was vintage Yekini. He lived for football.

Indeed, until his death, Yekini was famous in Ibadan for his regular paticipation in “set” football (or street corner football). After his professional football career in Europe (I once visited him in Switzerland where he played for FC Zurich with Ike Shorunmu), Yekini was the only high-profile member of the Super Eagles Golden Generation of 1994 that returned home to play in the local league for Julius Berger of Lagos and Gateway FC of Abeokuta. His presence drew unprecedented crowds to league match revenues across the country. He practically gave back to the league that produced him and no other player of such stature has replicated his patriotic gesture. The local league has been the worse for it.

Yekini was also fiercely competitive. He was a winner and always gave his all for victory. His teammates knew that all they had to do was get the ball to Yekini, and he would do the rest. He was as strong as a horse and he was very fast. When I see modern day strikers like Didier Drogba falling all over the pitch these days, I remember Rashidi Yekini who took all the knocks and yet stayed on his feet.

Talking about Yekini’s competitive edge, Complete Sports photographer Ganiyu Yusuf narrates a story of how Yekini went to play street corner football in Ibadan in recent years and scored nine goals. He later scored the 10th which was disallowed and Yekini got angry,  seized his ball and said no one was playing again! After nine goals, why would Yekini complain about the 10th that was disallowed in a friendly street corner kick-about?! That was Yekini for you. He didn’t joke with goal-scoring at all level.

As a person, Yekini was generous and kind to a fault. He was probably too generous. He didn’t treasure material things and he cared little about money.

I recall an instance when the Super Eagles were complaining about unpaid allowances and refused to turn up for a match at the National Stadium, Lagos. The away team were already in the stadium, the officials were ready and the stands were full with spectators. But the Eagles refused to leave their Eko Hotel abode. I went to Yekini’s room and found him dressed up. He said: “Look at me. Me, I’m ready to play. You can see that my boots are ready, but I can’t go and play alone. I don’t know what they’re fighting over. Let them just resolve their wahala, so that we can go and play.”

Yekini’s scant regard for material things may have adversely affected him in his last days because he reportedly gave all his savings away in charity, thereby leaving himself allegedly broke and desperate.
With the way things have turned out in his sudden death at a relatively young age, the spiritual interpretation of his generosity or over-generosity is that he wittingly or unwittingly invested all his savings in his hereafter. In the words of the Holy Quran, he will find those savings intact with his Lord now that he has gone to meet his creator.

Indeed, Yekini told me in 1993: “One thing about me is that I don’t rush anything in this life. What is there to rush when the fact is that one day, you’ll simply drop dead and leave everything behind. My philosophy is to do my simple best and leave the rest to God.”

Looking back now, those are prophetic words from “The Goalsfather!”

lPS: Read Rashidi Yekini’s story and full interview titled “The Goalsfather” in Complete Sports Saturday, May 19, 2012. It’s indepth and reveals a lot of things that you never knew about the Nigerian king of goals. Don’t miss it.

Blame Not The NFF

THE Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has a history of not fending enough for former internationals who had done Nigeria proud in the past, but it would be unfair to hold them (NFF) responsible for Rashidi Yekini’s shocking death.

As already established, Yekini didn’t want to relate with officialdom, including the NFF. Even when he was invited for events or shortlisted as team ambassador, he turned down the invitations.

His death, though, has reopened the clamour for a formal welfare scheme for our football heroes which they can rely on for some stipend in retirement. If Yekini’s death sparks the NFF into definitive action in that regard, that would be most welcome.
The Goalsfather  Goes Home

ONE of the proudest moments in my journalism career happened on Friday, October 8, 1993, the day Nigeria qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time ever. I stumbled on Rashidi Yekini at the lobby of Hotel El-Aurassi in Algiers where the Super Eagles were lodged ahead of their final qualifying game against the host country Algeria. Time was 2:20pm, roughly five hours to the game that would rewrite the history of Nigerian football forever.

I asked Yekini for an impromptu chat and he went on to give me an hour-long interview. Later than night, the Eagles played a 1-1 draw with Algeria to secure the single point that Nigeria needed to qualify for the USA ‘94 World Cup ahead of Cote d’Ivoire. Finidi George was the goalscorer for Nigeria on that historic night at the July 5 Stadium in Algiers.

Three months later, I published my exclusive interview with Yekini in the December 1993 edition of COMPLETE FOOTBALL magazine which I edited at the time.  The inspired headline of my story was “THE GOALSFATHER.” Then in the January 1994 edition after Yekini had been named as the African Footballer of the Year for 1993, I put his picture on the magazine cover and titled it “YE-KING.”

Initially, neither nickname was embraced by the local media which had got used to calling Yekini by his original nickname: “Gangling Yekini.” But during the countdown to the USA ‘94 World Cup, the sports desk of the BBC Africa Service which subscribed to Complete Football adopted my creation and started addressing Yekini as “GOALSFATHER” on their popular radio programme, FAST TRACK. The local media soon followed suit and indeed the rest of Africa and the rest of the world. “The Goalsfather” legend was born and I have always been proud to be the author of a fitting nickname for the greatest goalscorer in the history of Nigerian football.

When I heard about Yekini’s sudden death last week Friday May 4, 2012, I was speechless. His former teammate at Abiola Babes FC and the national team, “Defence Minister” Yisa Sofoluwe had called to confirm whether the news he was hearing about Yekini’s demise was true. I hadn’t heard such news, so I called Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer Ike Shorunmu who resided in Ibadan with Yekini to check.
My worst fears were confirmed when Ike declared in Yoruba: “Ah, otito ni o! Yekini ti lo o! (“Ah, its true o! Yekini is gone o!).

Despite my shock, I quickly pulled myself together and asked Ike to join me in saying a short muslim prayer for the repose of Yekini’s soul. May Allah grant him Aljanat Firdaos (The best of paradise), amen.

Since Yekini’s passage, the media has been awash with various accounts of his last days. For several years now, Yekini had been rumoured to have gone mad and reports say his family finally decided to do something about it on Easter Monday, April 8, 2012. He was allegedly forcibly taken away from his Ibadan house in hand and leg chains despite his protestations that nothing was wrong with his mental health. He apparently died at the hands of those who claimed that they wanted to “cure” him.

I will not comment on the alleged cause, nature or circumstances surrounding Yekini’s death because I was not privy to the events that may have occurred. But going by the stories that have come out so far, there is definitely a need for his death to be properly investigated in order to ascertain the truth and put an end to all the speculations.

I will only write about what I know of and that is Yekini’s deeply reserved nature. He was extremely introverted and loved to be left alone. Ironically, he could also be great fun to be with when he felt like it because he had such a great sense of humour. When Yekini was in his elements, there were no dull moments as many of his teammates in the Super Eagles have already recounted. Yekini was very, very funny and he would put a lot of today’s so-called stand-up comedians in the shade by far.

The last time I spoke to Yekini was on the telephone sometime last year, 2011. News of his alleged madness was making the headlines again and I decided to re-establish contact with an old friend to see if indeed he was in need of help. Prior to then, Yekini had reportedly rebuffed all attempts by journalists to talk to him. He granted no interviews, he turned down every invitation to participate in any public event, he completely shunned the limelight that his personality and achievement deserved.
Therefore, I had to be careful how I approached him so that he didn’t shun me as well.

Surprisingly, Yekini was so warm and excited when he heard my voice on the phone. We recollected some of the times we shared together in the Eagles when he was the fearsome goalscorer and I was more or less the “official reporter” of the Super Eagles. I asked after his welfare and that of his family.
I greeted him generally but avoided requesting for an interview.

For several weeks after that initial contact, I called Yekini nearly every Friday to wish him “Happy Jummat” (the muslim special prayer on Fridays) because I knew he was very religious. Sometimes, I would just text him an admonition verse from the Holy Quran.

Even though Soccertalk readers were urging me to write about Yekini’s condition at that time, I kept my encounters with him secret because I knew he would cut me off the moment he learnt that I mentioned him in my column. My strategy was to fully regain his trust in my friendship before making the move for an interview. Then, one Friday morning, Yekini called me back to wish me “Happy Jummat!” He said he wanted to beat me to it for once. I knew then that my strategy was working. My next plan would be to visit him at home in Ibadan. But that is not going to happen anymore.

Last month, Chief Segun Odegbami shared his own recent personal encounter with Yekini with readers of his Mathematical column in Complete Sports. He had finally convinced “Ye-King” to come out of his shell, participate in youth football development and promotional projects and generally showcase himself like the true African hero that he was. Yekini, apparently now going through some difficult moments, had agreed to Odegbami’s mentoring and guidance and promised he would do as he was told. Odegbami said he had started work on the “Yekini Project” to relaunch “The Goalsfather.” I told him I was fully interested in the project and that he should carry me along. That was last month. But last week, Yekini died and the project has died with him.

If you ask me whether Yekini was mad, my answer would be “No” based on my personal encounter which I have just narrated. Indeed, he may have behaved in a weird way by choosing to live alone, allegedly ejecting his tenants and reportedly burning some of his own belongings on one occasion. At best, we could say Yekini was unpredictable and erratic. He was probably depressed because of his long habit of solitude. But I wouldn’t say he was deranged unless he was medically diagnosed to be.

There isn’t much that I can say about Rashidi Yekini’s illustrious football career that is not already in the public domain. He was Nigeria’s highest goalscorer ever with 37 goals in 58 games; he was the first Nigerian to be crowned as African Footballer of the Year when he won the title in 1993; he scored eight goals in seven qualifying matches (the highest in Africa at that time) to help Nigeria reach the FIFA World Cup for the first time at USA ‘94; and he went on to score Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal in our opening game against Bulgaria at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas  on June 21, 1994. Nigeria won the match resoundingly by 3-0 with Yekini’s opening goal arriving in the 21st minute. Daniel Amokachi (43rd) and Emmanuel Amuneke (55th) were the other goalscorers.

I remember vividly that Yekini was mocked by the local press when he first appeared on the national scene. The jest was  that he couldn’t control the ball! Well, Yekini went on to prove to everyone that he didn’t need to control any ball. He simply blasted it into the net with his long “gangling”  legs!

Apart from his goal-scoring prowess, some other traits that stood Yekini out in the Super Eagles were his humility, his discipline and his patriotism. In my interview with him in Algiers in 1993, Yekini said his goals came “directly from God.” On why he rarely got injured throughout his career, he said he didn’t smoke, didn’t drink alcohol and never missed training, so he was always fit. “If you’re fit, you will outrun your markers and they can’t injure you,” he said. On playing for his country, he said: “Even if Nigeria is playing against ants and cockroaches and I’m invited, I will play!” That was vintage Yekini. He lived for football.

Indeed, until his death, Yekini was famous in Ibadan for his regular paticipation in “set” football (or street corner football). After his professional football career in Europe (I once visited him in Switzerland where he played for FC Zurich with Ike Shorunmu), Yekini was the only high-profile member of the Super Eagles Golden Generation of 1994 that returned home to play in the local league for Julius Berger of Lagos and Gateway FC of Abeokuta. His presence drew unprecedented crowds to league match revenues across the country. He practically gave back to the league that produced him and no other player of such stature has replicated his patriotic gesture. The local league has been the worse for it.

Yekini was also fiercely competitive. He was a winner and always gave his all for victory. His teammates knew that all they had to do was get the ball to Yekini, and he would do the rest. He was as strong as a horse and he was very fast. When I see modern day strikers like Didier Drogba falling all over the pitch these days, I remember Rashidi Yekini who took all the knocks and yet stayed on his feet.

Talking about Yekini’s competitive edge, Complete Sports photographer Ganiyu Yusuf narrates a story of how Yekini went to play street corner football in Ibadan in recent years and scored nine goals. He later scored the 10th which was disallowed and Yekini got angry,  seized his ball and said no one was playing again! After nine goals, why would Yekini complain about the 10th that was disallowed in a friendly street corner kick-about?! That was Yekini for you. He didn’t joke with goal-scoring at all level.

As a person, Yekini was generous and kind to a fault. He was probably too generous. He didn’t treasure material things and he cared little about money.

I recall an instance when the Super Eagles were complaining about unpaid allowances and refused to turn up for a match at the National Stadium, Lagos. The away team were already in the stadium, the officials were ready and the stands were full with spectators. But the Eagles refused to leave their Eko Hotel abode. I went to Yekini’s room and found him dressed up. He said: “Look at me. Me, I’m ready to play. You can see that my boots are ready, but I can’t go and play alone. I don’t know what they’re fighting over. Let them just resolve their wahala, so that we can go and play.”

Yekini’s scant regard for material things may have adversely affected him in his last days because he reportedly gave all his savings away in charity, thereby leaving himself allegedly broke and desperate.

With the way things have turned out in his sudden death at a relatively young age, the spiritual interpretation of his generosity or over-generosity is that he wittingly or unwittingly invested all his savings in his hereafter. In the words of the Holy Quran, he will find those savings intact with his Lord now that he has gone to meet his creator.

Indeed, Yekini told me in 1993: “One thing about me is that I don’t rush anything in this life. What is there to rush when the fact is that one day, you’ll simply drop dead and leave everything behind. My philosophy is to do my simple best and leave the rest to God.”

Looking back now, those are prophetic words from “The Goalsfather!”

lPS: Read Rashidi Yekini’s story and full interview titled “The Goalsfather” in Complete Sports Saturday, May 19, 2012. It’s indepth and reveals a lot of things that you never knew about the Nigerian king of goals. Don’t miss it.

Blame Not The NFF

THE Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has a history of not fending enough for former internationals who had done Nigeria proud in the past, but it would be unfair to hold them (NFF) responsible for Rashidi Yekini’s shocking death.

As already established, Yekini didn’t want to relate with officialdom, including the NFF. Even when he was invited for events or shortlisted as team ambassador, he turned down the invitations.

His death, though, has reopened the clamour for a formal welfare scheme for our football heroes which they can rely on for some stipend in retirement. If Yekini’s death sparks the NFF into definitive action in that regard, that would be most welcome.