PAEDIA EXPRESS PRAISE STEPHEN KESHI FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIONHOOD THROUGH SPORTS

 

PAEDIA EXPRESS PRAISE STEPHEN KESHI FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO NATIONHOOD THROUGH SPORTS

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU

Stephen Keshi:We only met once in his lifetime and that was sometimes in 2012 at a GT Bank organized event that took place at the Lagos Television compound in Ikeja ,Lagos,Nigeria

apart from watching him on television playing for Anderletch in Belgium or the Super Eagles of Nigeria either as a player or as a coach had never had any formal meeting before that day and yet it was enough for me to form a lifetime of an opinion on the man..even in death

he looked at me closely and told me that i should never be afraid to believe in my dreams and run a race on a lonely road,he told me that when thingS were pretty rough for him as a young man The then Managing Director of now rested New Nigerian Bank Plc had told him that if things did not work out with football he could offer him a job as a banker and then even help him abroad on scholarship.
Keshi said and i could recall:am a footballer sir ,am not a banker...

That for me was the tonic a man needed for success,so our recognizing  him in glowing terms even in death is because he paid a very huge price for success...a lot of people want to be called icons or legends but i find it a little bit of a cultural shock that people are not willing to pay the price and yet they want to be adorned in a royal dress which does not come cheap..

If you want to be a champion and even remain undisputed then you have got to be willing to step into the ring ,face your opponents jabs survive them and hit yours to a famous victory and this is the way the world will remember you buy.
Ask people about:Tiger Woods Mohammed Ali ,Sean Connery,Clint Eastwood,Sylvester Stallone,Steven Seagal,Arnold Schwarzenegger,Michael Jackson,Novak Djokovic,Andy Murray,Roger Federer and so many i cannot immediately recall and they will tell you the painful road they have to go through before been called a champion...

Like Kenneth Omeruo said :Stephen Keshi forever in my heart...