Taribo West’s poison is Paul Onuachu’s meat

Everyone knows the story of the prodigal son. It is needless retelling here. But there is a simple idiom that captures his visceral vices, which include rebellion and entitlement, wastage and reckless living, debauchery and arrogance, unaccountability, and greed. That idiom is: “You can’t eat your cake and have it”. To analytical users of the English language, I owe an explanation. “You can’t have your cake and it” is the original and historical version of the modern adaptation, “You can’t have your cake and eat it”.

Both versions are correct to the extent that “You can’t eat your cake and have it” is the logically superior and historically original version, while “You can’t have your cake and eat it” is the modern standard and most common use. Meanwhile, the original version, “You can’t eat your cake and have it”, makes literal sense because when you have eaten your cake, you can no longer have it. The modern version appears illogical and less precise because you must have your cake before eating it.

However, proponents of “You can’t have your cake and eat it” argue that confusion persists over meaning because English thrives on chronological phrasing, which supports the movement from ‘have’ to ‘eat’. But the idiom is about mutual exclusivity, not sequence. The original version, “You can’t eat your cake and have it”, emphasises that once an action is completed, the other becomes impossible. But, people, over time, reversed the original version because ‘have’ your cake and ‘eat’ flows more naturally in modern English, even though it blurs logic.

Long before ex-Super Eagles player Taribo West described Nigeria as an ungrateful country that abandons its stars in times of need, I had looked forward to giving the length of my tongue to entitled athletes, who think that because they once donned the green-white-green jersey, Nigeria must forever wipe their butts and change their diapers, even beyond retirement.

Taribo was not alone in the condemnation of football authorities’ alleged neglect of former stars. His former mates in the national team, Austin Eguavoen and Samson Siasia, spoke on the same wavelength with Taribo when ex-national goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, died and was buried in Lagos. The Port Harcourt-born Taribo was the most vocal in his condemnation of the Nigeria Football Federation and the Lagos State Government, both of whom he accused of abandoning Rufai’s family. Taribo described the neglect as ‘madness’ and recalled the alleged treatment of other late stars such as Rashidi Yekini, Stephen Keshi, and Thompson Oliha, swearing never to allow his son to play for Nigeria. Abeg, is Taribo’s son Lamine Yamal? Yeye dey smell.

Renowned for his defensive solidity when he plied his trade with giant Milanese clubs – Inter and AC – and a host of other clubs across England, Germany, France, Qatar, former Yugoslavia, Qatar, and Iran, Taribo became the world’s most expensive defender in 1997 when he reportedly joined Inter Milan for over $10m.

Rough, rugged and hard, Taribo was a terror to strikers who often found his Wall of Jericho insurmountable. When he played as a central defender, many strikers preferred to go through the wings. When he played as a wingback, opposition players preferred to attack through the centre. Such was the strength of Taribo. But West had his weaknesses, too. Slow to react, fouls in vital areas, Taribo’s physicality was his forte, not the modern-day technicality of timing, space control and creativity.

Despite having the benefit of taking financial management and investment courses as fledglings while in football academies in Europe and Latin America, some foreign football stars never outgrew wasteful spending, lavishing their fortunes on sex, parties and luxury items, such as aircraft, cars, wristwatches, shoes, etc. Examples of such stars abound.

John Arne Riise, ex-Liverpool defender with 348 appearances, became bankrupt in 2007 at the age of 26, shortly after winning the Champions League, despite earning roughly £50,000 per week. The Norwegian later admitted in an interview that he could not manage funds, as his club helped pay all his bills while he concentrated on football. Now, Riise is gradually rebuilding his life working as a pundit and coach.

Ex-Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa and West Ham goalkeeper icon, David James, was declared bankrupt in 2014, following a messy divorce. James was so poor that he had to auction his personal belongings, such as jerseys, caps and DJ equipment. The Premier League former star is slowly rebuilding his life, working as a coach, pundit and appearing in reality shows.

The football god, who went bankrupt after a glittering soccer career, was Diego Armando Maradona, famed as one of the three greatest footballers to ever kick the round leather; Messi and Pele being the other two. Paul Gascoigne, former Newcastle, Tottenham, Lazio, Rangers, Everton and Middlesbrough midfielder, was reported to be worth £14m at the peak of his career, but alcoholism and drug addiction had been his albatross, as he battled bankruptcy. Ex-European champion and seven-time English champion, Wes Brown, a former Manchester United defender, was officially declared bankrupt in April 2023, despite earning an estimated £50,000-a-week during his career.

Coming back home to Africa, ex-Chelsea and former Super Eagles defender, Celestine Babayaro, was officially declared bankrupt by a UK court in 2011 after owing about £584,000 in debt, with his house in Middlesex falling into utter disuse. Babayaro, who began his European career with Anderlecht between 1994 and 1997, went ahead to spend eight years at Chelsea, earning between £25,000 and £30,000 per week, before moving to Newcastle FC, where he played for three years. Cameroon gifted the world a versatile midfielder in Eric Djemba-Djemba, who played for Manchester United and Aston Villa, Premier League sides where he earned eye-popping wages. Djemba-Djemba was undone by overspending, including managing 30 bank accounts, and was declared bankrupt while playing for Qatar SC.

The list of Nigerian ex-footballers, who once earned mega bucks but fell into ruin due to reckless spending, is long. A lot of them are today shadows of themselves, with telltale signs of austere times showing on their clothes, shoes and jalopy cars. With the stupendous money they made while playing, some of Nigeria’s ex-soccer stars need not beg the NFF for coaching jobs if they managed their resources well. They also do not need to run from one radio station to another television station, analysing matches for pittance.

One of Nigeria’s best football dribblers, Etim Esin, was honest enough to admit that indiscretion and recklessness militated against him reaching the peak of his talent and skills. Esin, the hottest Nigerian player of his era, sneaked out of camp at night in 1987 and was shot by armed robbers in Lagos when Nigeria was preparing for the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Chile. Since he retired, Esin had been charging Nigerian footballers to live responsibly, advising them to learn from his fall.

The call by Taribo on NFF and the Lagos State Government to foot the bill of Rufai’s burial is akin to the call of the prodigal son on his father, demanding resources that were not due to him yet, because his father had not died. Like the prodigal son, Nigerian football stars go into ‘far country’ (abroad) and waste their resources. Just like the prodigal son, lack and hunger serve as moral reawakening for some ex-footballers, who retrace their steps after repentance. The prodigal son’s elder brother, who stayed back at home, obeyed the father and received no compensation for his good-naturedness, is the Nigerians whom Taribo seeks to punish by not allowing his son to play for them.

At its core, the prodigal son’s story pits two systems against each other: Justice Vs. Grace. Justice is justice – you reap what you sow. Grace grants undeserved blessings. The prodigal sons in Nigeria’s entitled ex-footballers do not want to reap what they sowed; rather, they want grace to abide even after frittering away their talents and resources. This is why many of them turn around to blame the sun for emitting heat instead of cold.

Speaking at the funeral of Rufai, Taribo, now a pastor, said, “For me, it is disheartening that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigeria Football Federation, and they dropped the buck on the family. With this kind of example they have shown in (Yisa) Shofoluwe, in Stephen Keshi, in Thompson Oliha, Rahsidi Yekini, I will never allow my son to put his feet for this country. Do we have a football federation? Or do we have a football association in this Lagos State? That this hero, this soldier, this football evangelist has to be treated this way and his family would be crying to solicit within our groups to ask for money?”

Former Super Eagles coach, Eguavoen, who is also a former teammate of Rufai and Taribo in the famed Class of 94 Eagles, said, “I don’t care what anybody is going to say about this. The difference between sportsmen and women, and military people is the gun. We lay our lives down. This mark on my face was a stud from Ariel Ortega during the Confederation Cup. I could have been blinded. Aloy Agu lost his teeth. It was the same attitude when the late Keshi was buried. Let’s not even talk about Uche Okafor, Oliha, Wilfred, Sofoluwe and all that. A lot of people have gone who have put their lives on the line to represent Nigeria. I think Peter Rufai is too big a name that the government, the people in charge, won’t just come and take over this burial.”

In a post on his Instagram page, Etim Esin disagreed with Taribo and Eguavoen, saying, “I know how you felt, but it was uncalled for. Where is our players’ union? Are you the president of our players’ union? Let the sleeping souls lie. If you want change, fight for it. Run for NFF president like George Weah became Liberia’s president. Stop lamenting.”

U-17 World Cup-winning coach, Fanny Amu, who also coached the Super Eagles, said players were well rewarded during their careers. In a report by ESPN, Amu, who spoke with Brila FM, explained that the relationship between the NFF and players was ‘trade by barter’. He said, “They were performing, the federation and the government were taking care of them. So, we don’t need to be apportioning blame. Let us stop these issues that do not make any sense. They flew business class, got paid allowances, and were treated well. Playing for Nigeria was a privilege.”

A Super Eagles striker, Paul Onuachu, is redefining the sense of entitlement by some past and present Nigerian soccer players, wearing apparel of gratitude for the prodigal son. The Trabzonspor FC of Turkey forward has initiated the construction of a $450,000 (N612 million) hospital in his Amakohia hometown of Owerri.

Although Onuachu earns about $50,000 per week, he is not the highest-earning Nigerian athlete, but his heart is the largest. While his compatriots paint the town red when they come to town, Onuachu has chosen a path more honourable, impactful and rewarding than boozing and flexing. Many of his colleagues are seen at parties, ‘spraying’ money and showing clips of their luxurious living. In the face of the shambolic healthcare system of the country, Onuachu’s gesture will save lives, improve living and create employment.

According to an editorial by The PUNCH, “Philanthropy: Onuachu takes a giant step”, of the 34,675 public primary health centres in Nigeria, only 20 per cent are functional. The editorial goes on to say Nigeria’s secondary and tertiary public health centres are “overwhelmed and overly expensive”, resulting in Nigerians spending 70 per cent as out-of-pocket expenses to treat themselves, making the country the fifth highest in the world.

Senegalese striker and former Liverpool legend, Sadio Mane, has also built a health centre for his village, Bambali. Mane also built a £250,000 school in his community where each pupil gets a laptop, and brilliant ones receive financial rewards. Mane reportedly wired the community with a 4G network, and he gives each family £70 monthly.

In the land of Pharaoh, another Liverpool legend, Mohammed Salah, has constructed a free centre for the elderly and the underprivileged – the Nagrig Art Medical Centre, in his community. Onuachu, Mane and Salah are good examples of footballers who are not perpetually asking the state to be at their service after being giving the opportunity to showcase their talent and skills to the world.

When Taribo, Eguavoen and Siasia call for perpetual freebies from a nation that some players represented for about two dozen times, why don’t they call on the former clubs, which the players represented more than 100 times, to foot the bills of the sick or the dead? It is ridiculous that Eguavoen could compare football playing that rakes in millions of dollars with the duties of a soldier. It is very unfortunate.

What do football players do that journalists, policemen, DSS, nurses, pilots, doctors, etc., don’t do? So, if anyone who has worked for the nation gets sick or dies, the government must be responsible for their sickness or burial, after they have been paid while in active service? To date, only Samuel Okparaji died on the football pitch while representing Nigeria, but many Nigerian journalists, medical officials, security officials, teachers, etc., have died in active service.

Wise investment while in active service is the panacea to the incessant whining by some of Nigeria’s former football heroes. When life’s vicissitudes hit, you come to the public arena with a plea, not a demand.