It is Thursday night.
I am writing my article for the weekend.
My phone keeps interrupting me.
There is a flood of calls.
I have always known, but now it dawns on me again, that I am the go-to person by many Nigerians for confirmation of news (mostly of the sad type) concerning Nigerian athletes (mostly retired football players).
From the first caller, I now know why my phone has been ringing ceaselessly. People are calling to verify the sad news that another retired football hero has died.
I have not heard anything myself from any source, so I halt my writing and make a few calls.
The news is true.
‘Dodo Mayana’ passed on.
Once again, my heart is broken and very heavy. Oh no! Not Dodo, my good friend, my loyalist, the legendary Nigerian goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, aka ‘Dodo Mayana’.
Between us we always shared this story.
It was in 1979, or so. I scored a goal against him at the finals of an FA Cup played in the morning against Stationary Stores FC, at the National Stadium.
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A last minute cross from Muda Lawal had found me my lurking right foot in the Stores’ defense. A gentle tap had caught Peter Rufai on the wrong foot as he sprawled and stretched furtively to stop the ball trickling into his goal. That ended the dream of the ‘Flaming Flamengoes’ to represent Nigeria in one of the African Club championships.
Peter’s performance on that day was sterling, stopping the deadliest frontline in Nigerian football at the time, comprising Owoblow, Muda Lawal, and ‘Mathematical’, until the dying minutes of the match. That performance earned the young and flamboyant Peter Rufai his invitation to the national team for the first time.
We became friends ever since.
Three weeks ago, I went to visit a friend who was hospitalized at the Federal Medical Centre in Ebute Metta, Lagos. Knowing who I was, some personnel at the hospital told me that Peter Rufai had been on admission for some time in the hospital but had been discharged a few days before; that he wanted his admission kept private, and that only very few persons were allowed to visit him because he did not want a public fuss.
I tried to reach him on phone several times after that but his lines were ‘dead’.
Peter’s death is an addition to a sad chapter in the story of Nigeria’s retired athletes, how most struggle to survive throughout their post-athletics careers; how they are often downed by ailments deriving from their sports exploits. The number of victims defy the logic that as athletes they should not suffer from the killer-diseases associated with an inactive lifestyle – heart related diseases like High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and Obesity that strike silently and suddenly.
There is a serious need for research in Nigeria into why retired athletes die at relatively young ages as the evidence around me shows very clearly. The sports authorities do not seem to appreciate the magnitude and seriousness of the matter, so they do nothing!
In the first half of this year, very prominent sports heroes from the 1976 Olympic contingent and the 1980 African Cup of Nations squad have passed on, all of them from one deadly heart-related disease or the other – Moses Effiong (football), Charles Bassey (football), Obisia Nwakpa (boxing), and Christian Chukwu (football).
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I know of many others that are currently and quietly struggling and battling with their health conditions – Christopher Friday, Franklyn Howard, Henry Nwosu, Babatunde Obisanya, Emmanuel Okala, and so on.
The death of Peter Rufai, at 61, is very sad and very frustrating. Whilst commiserating with his family, friends, fans and stakeholders in the sports business in Nigeria, I am challenged to now do what I had always felt needed to be done but never did. Before then, however, there is this assignment.
Night of Tributes for ‘Chairman’ Chukwu and others
A ‘Night of Tributes’ is being arranged for the 4 great Nigerian sports heroes, AirPeace Ambassadors, that died in the past 3 months.
This special evening will take place at the site of the ‘NIIA Sports and Diplomacy Wall of Fame’ in Lagos established 2 years ago by the NIIA in conjunction with AirPeace Airline that also funded the beautiful National monument.
On Monday, July 28th 2025, a high-profile evening of special tributes, celestial music and prayers (funded by Airpeace Airline) will be held to remember and celebrate the lives of Christian Chukwu, Charles Bassey and Obisia Nwakpa.
Although, Peter Rufai is not an official AirPeace Ambassador, he will also be celebrated for his service to Nigeria and to the game of football.
SOS Foundation!
In the next few weeks, with the Grace and Guidance of the Creator of the Universe, and deploying the Goodwill and Trust that I have enjoyed from the Nigerian public, I shall be seeking support from Nigerians to venture into this uncharted territory. I shall set up a Foundation with the mission to, amongst other things, conduct research into the lives of retired international athletes from various angles, document, chronicle and archive their lives, provide entrepreneurial skills programs for them, address their welfare issues and that of their dependents, design investment schemes for that will benefit them, and more.
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That’s the next phase of my own life, against the penchant of stakeholders in sports to do nothing but lament. Being the harbinger of sad news when athletes pass on has become a burden for me, a psychologically dampening and exhausting exercise. There must be more than that for me to do into the twilight zone of my life.
Customs Service boss elevated!
In the meaninglessness of this life, as we mourn so do we also have good reason to celebrate and be grateful to the Creator of the Universe.
Life and death go together, like success and failure, like joy and sadness, Siamese Twins all!
Last week, In far away Brussels, Belgium, one of the silent but biggest supporters of sports development in Nigeria, was elected by the World Customs Organisation, WCO, as Chairperson to lead the global organisation for the next 3 years.
It is a first in history, that a Nigerian would receive such an elevated recognition for service.
As we congratulate this hardworking and visionary Nigerian ambassador, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Dr. Adewale Adeniyi, we also wish him Allah’s special guidance in this new and additional assignment.
