Obiekwu may be given a coaching role with one of the national teams after Amaju Pinnick, the NFF President was notified of his plight
There is a glimmer of hope for Kingsley Obiekwu after his financial troubles come to the limelight.
Obiekwu was a member of the 1996 Dream Team that won for Nigeria Gold Medal at the Atlanta Olympics.
After a Facebook user, Okwuluora posted on his page that circumstances of life had taken Obiekwu from stardom to the Abakpa motor park in Enugu State as a cab driver, goodwill has been trickling in.
The Facebook user had said: “At Abakpa Motor Park, I saw former Super Eagles Defender Kingsley Obiekwu (Shagari Udoji) loading buses and driving Sienna to Nsukka. I hugged and greeted him then cried like a man. Life can be cruel Yes. He never made it to the highest level, Yes, but where are his teammates. I will tell Kanu Nwankwo about this. They won the Olympics together in Atlanta.”
First came the support of N2million from Super Eagles Captain, Ahmed Musa.
Ahmed Musa donation excited many Nigerians who hailed the Kano Pillars striker for his compassion.
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Nigerians hail Ahmed Musa for N2m lifeline to taxi-driving ex-Super Eagles star, Kingsley Obiekwu
The Nigeria Football Federation has reportedly intervened with a job offer.
At least, there appears to be a respite for the former international soccer star, who, after retirement from active football, tried his hand in what he knew how to do best – coaching football.
He acquired the necessary training and secured jobs with top flights local football clubs, including from neighbouring Benin Republic. But they owed him cumulatively N6million. And with family to look after, he quits coaching and used his only car as a taxi driver.
“Yes, I am a commercial transporter; there is nothing to hide about it. Man has to do what is legal to pay his family bills. I have four children at the Enugu State University of Technology and my last child is in primary five. I have coached Rangers International FC, Ifeanyi Ubah FC, Delta Force FC, Asaba, Giant Brila and also Union Sportif, Krake, Republic of Benin. All of them owe me,” Obiekwu told the News Agency of Nigeria.
Punch, in a report, recalls that Obiekwu, popularly known as Shagari, was the only outfield player who didn’t play a game in Atlanta despite playing a major role in qualifying. “His ferocious long-range stunner against the Egyptian U-23 team in Lagos helped knock out the North Africans in the final game to Atlanta,” the report says.
“The first game I played for the Super Eagles was against Zambia. I felt very proud to play for the Eagles. I went on to play more games for the Eagles, but a reporter once said I never played for the Eagles. I told him I did play. I represented Nigeria at the LG Cup in Tunisia, I played in the Carlsberg tournament in Hong Kong, which we won, I played an invitational tournament in Morocco. I also played against Jamaica and then against Switzerland, when Nigeria was preparing for the World Cup. I played lots of games for the Eagles but I just didn’t represent the country in a major tournament at senior level,” Obiekwu told the newspaper.
It says his teammate at Udoji United, Chikelue Iloenyosi, described Obiekwu as “a great individual and leader.”
“He led by example and was disciplined; a great character in the dressing room,” Iloenyosi, now the Chairman, Board of Trustees, All Nigeria Football Players Union, said.
Now 47, Obiekwu’s life has been riddled with challenges, with football only providing succour at some point.
“My life’s full of challenges,” he told Sunday PUNCH in an interview in 2013.
“In my family, everybody had to fend for themselves. My father married three wives and he didn’t care for everybody. At a point, I vulcanised tyres. I was also a bus conductor but at the same time, I took my football seriously.
“I played street football and we organised ourselves; went to friends and families to raise money for our jerseys and register for competitions. That was the challenges that we faced then.”
It was thus no surprise when Shagari got the desired big break in life, through football.
“The opportunity came after I represented Imo State in the football event of the National Sports Festival with the likes of Kanu and Mobi Oparaku in 1991. I played for Police FC against Enugu Rangers and I had a very good game and Udoji United came for me and asked me to sign for them,” Obiekwu said.
He featured for Udoji from 1992 to 1995 before joining the Dutch top division side Go Ahead Eagles. But his sojourn in European football was short-lived due to a medical issue after just three seasons.
“When I went to Go Ahead Eagles for my medical, they told me that I had an enlarged heart. And I asked them what the effect was. They told me that what it meant was that I would get tired faster than any other player on the pitch,” Obiekwu added.
“Really, that was what I was experiencing. I wanted to know what medication I could use to regain my fitness 100 per cent but I was told there was nothing I could do about it; it’s natural, something that I was born with. That was why I couldn’t give my very best even though I was one of the best defenders.
“In the 1997/98 season, I played against VVV Venlo and they wanted to sign me but my club refused because they didn’t want my heart issue known to other clubs. I still thank them for what they did for me because if I had gone to Venlo, it would have become a big issue. So, because of that, I couldn’t go beyond what I achieved as a player (in Europe) but I don’t have any regrets.”
He left Go Ahead Eagles for Al Ahli Shabab Club in Dubai in 1998 but returned home to Enugu Rangers, his boyhood club, featuring for them in the Nigerian topflight from 2000 to 2002, before another sojourn abroad to Egyptian side Al-Masry, where he spent just a season. He finally called it quits as a player, at Rangers, in 2006.
On retirement, he obtained a coaching pro-license certificate in the UK and had stints at Rangers, Ifeanyi Ubah, Delta Force and USS Krake in the Benin Republic but couldn’t get an NPFL coaching job, which required CAF Grade A and Grade B certificates.
Financial challenges afterwards almost made him sell his cherished Olympic gold medal.
“Honestly, I wanted to sell that gold medal at a point,” he stated. “That was in 2008 when I was in the United Kingdom. I wanted to sell it because I had financial challenges at that time and I thank God I didn’t sell the medal at the end of the day. Since nobody cared for you from your country, you had to fend for yourself.
“Surprisingly, even the Member of The Niger award that was given to us is not recognised. When you go to some offices and tell them that you are a MON, they won’t even look at you. They will ask you, “Is MON above the law?” Somebody has asked me that. It’s surprising. What is the need of giving me a MON award if I cannot enjoy the benefits and privileges that come with it?
“But when I see the Olympic medal now, I feel very proud. It gives me joy. When I was in London, my white colleagues in my office felt very proud working with an Olympic gold medallist. The coaches that trained me were also impressed. You know whites like evidence. When I told them I was a gold medalist, they didn’t believe me but when I showed them the medal, they were surprised. They said, ‘What are you doing here? You are a superstar and you need to work in your country.’ So, it was somehow disappointing.”
Now, there seems to be a shining light at the end of the tunnel for Obiekwu.
Ahmed Musa, current Eagles captain, sent the retired footballer N2m on learning of his plight, while players union ANFPU has also made headway in Obiekwu’s rehabilitation talks with the Nigeria Football Federation.
“The NFF has pledged to give Obiekwu a coaching role with one of the national teams after I told Amaju Pinnick (NFF President) about what Obiekwu was passing through. I thank the NFF president because of his quick response concerning retired footballers’ welfare. He responded the same way when Wilson Oruma and Femi Opabunmi also had issues. I’m happy Obiekwu will enjoy a new lease of life again,” Iloenyosi, a member of the Flying Eagles squad at the 1999 U-20 World Cup, said.