By Sam O’Femi Fasetire
It is with a very heavy heart that I put these few words together, as my favourite Nigerian footballer of the current generation has disappointed me. No, disappointment is too mild a word to describe the recent outburst by Victor Osimhen against Finidi George.
So sad I am, because I saw Osimhen as a true reflection of the rags to riches story that I can use in educating and motivating kids, teenagers and youths who are currently under my charge in school and the community.
It saddens me that a youngster who grew up in a lowly suburb of Lagos, sold sachet water on the streets in order to live his football dream and then suffered years of underachievement at VfL Wolfsburg in Germany should suddenly go footloose and get inflicted with ‘mouth diarrhoea,’ which made him openly disrespect a Nigerian football hero, Finidi George (Finito).
Regardless of a counter-argument that slams Finidi for apparently opening a can of worms or for stirring the hornet’s nest, I dare state that two wrongs don’t make a right. At the same time, there are civil manners in which grievances should be addressed, especially when they are directed at an older person.
Respect is reciprocal, no doubt, but the African tradition (to which we inevitably owe reverence) stipulates that young ones must show respect to their elders in all circumstances, even if the older person is lowly or poor (which Finidi obviously is not).
In the same vein, it is unethical and uncouth for a young boy to publicly slam a man who had long ago successfully and elegantly passed the same terrain he just started on. Shoe get size, we say in local parlance.
Sadly, Osimhen failed to take heed of tradition and decorum. He has fallen prey of many ominous adages: A dog that fails to hear the hunter’s whistle will get lost; A river that forgets its source will surely dry up; A child who knows not herbal leaves calls it vegetable, etc.
Conversely, a child who learns to wash his hands properly will dine with elders. It can extend to mean ‘a young man who scolds an older person with wisdom earns respect and gains an apology’ – which Osimhen has missed. He failed to realise that a young man may have more clothes than an elder, but he can’t have as many rags as the older person.
As I unfold my points, I know many people reading this piece will disagree with me. However, anyone who wants to demur should look at recent travails Osimhen is facing and begin to put two and two together to get 22. We need to look beyond the ‘ordinary eye’ as we seek explanations to his recent dwindling fortunes for club and country. To explain these ominous signs on the physical terrain, we must seek answers from the spiritual realm, which is where occultation comes to play in this story.
As I state my points, please understand that I am doing this based on my over 25 years of active involvement in youth football. Please also note the several days of selfless service that I had in moulding young boys from various localities during the heyday of the Nigerian Grassroots Football Federation (NGFF). Through God’s grace, we had two youth teams under our charge. We even got sponsorship from The British Council and were twice officially contacted by the NFF to provide players for the under-17 national team, Golden Eaglets.
In effect, I humbly state my points as ‘an expert and authority’ in the rudiments of youth development and the management of juvenile exuberance.
The experience that I have gained over the years has given me the credentials and locus standi to make a point that should hold water in judging issues like this one regarding Osimhen … and I should not be labelled among sycophants seeking relevance.
To God be all glory, it was during Frank Ilaboya’s tenure as the chairman of Lagos State chapter of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (Lagos SWAN) that I was honoured with a merit award in sports development. That was way back in 2003, and I have proudly placed it on the window at the school where I now teach kids of today, who are surely leaders of tomorrow.
It is no longer news that I moved out of grooming, developing, promoting and empowering youth footballers in 2011, then became a full-time teacher in 2020. My decision to become a teacher was simply based on the zeal in me to keep developing teenagers and help them fulfil the potential of their latent talents.
That I happily did in ten years of active efforts in charity to turn hidden stars into future heroes. To God be all glory, I saw the evolution of seven youngsters from the grassroots into Super Eagles’ players (either directly or indirectly through my efforts).
History is there to vindicate me regarding how God used me to impact to a very large extent on the lives of four former Super Eagles’ players – Stephen Ayodele Makinwa, Ifeanyi Emeghara, Ebenezer Olufemi Ajilore and Nnamdi Vincent Oduamadi – as well as to a small extent on three others – Kelvin Onyekachi Amuneke, Kazeem Atanda Yusuf (Ayila) and Sunday Stephen Uwafili (Oyan). I was the coordinator of the National Grassroots Dream Team, for which they all played at various points in time.
These references give me some gumption to write fearlessly and objectively about Osimhen’s outburst. They should also go a long way in buttressing the ominous repercussions of that verbal error he committed in blasting Finidi with his caustic video message.
The occultation of Osimhen’s spat should not be pushed aside with a cursory wave of the hand; because karma surely has a role to play in determining one’s gains and losses in the journey of life. Such it is that we should ask why Osimhen can’t be a back-to-back African player of the year or why luck ran against him at the Africa Cup of Nations. Once you put those two instances into perspective, you will begin to see that ominous signs have already been outlined in self-inflicted pitfalls ahead of this youngster.
Many of us might have taken those recurring injuries of this lad close to friendly matches of the Super Eagles as coincidences, but we now begin to understand them from the point of debilitating occurrences due to his infantile antics. He toyed with injuries and now they are beclouding him.
So it had to be, because this lad apparently has a penchant for choosing the games he wants to play for the nation. At the same time, clips have started emerging of his tantrums and remonstrations directed at various coaches of his club in Italy; but many overlooked the role he played in the sack of Rudi Garcia at Napoli.
Now the breeze has blown open the fowl’s backside and all eyes are clear. We begin to understand why he went overboard in his issue with Finidi.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating for any punitive action against this kid (who grew up in Olusosun, Ojota area of Lagos). I’m only trying to tickle his sensibilities and bring him back to decorum. At the same time, if he is incapable of controlling himself, this should prick elders into calling him to order. A Yoruba adage says elders cannot be in the market and the head of the child gets twisted.
So, my point of view is that anarchy has been let loose through Osimhen’s vitriolic, but the time for amendment is still upon us. Let’s move quickly before the days of grace expire for him. I’ve seen talents brought low on account of less damaging errors than the one he has unwittingly committed.
Let him apologise and show genuine contrition, and the white angel will surely intervene on his behalf … so that ominous repercussions that are ostensibly looming against him shall turn into salubrious auguries of better days to come.
May God not cast him away, but resurrect the innocence in him. Amen.
