• ‘It’s unfortunate NFF didn’t congratulate me on my 71st birthday’

One of the greatest goalkeepers to come out of Africa, Emmanuel Oguejiofor Okala, still cannot get over Nigeria losing any match. Okala, hero of major international matches from 1973 to 1981, yesterday, revealed that he always found it difficult ‘to eat’ any time Nigeria loses a football match.

Okala turned 71 years on Tuesday.

While ‘Man Mountain,’ as he was known in his playing days, got congratulatory messages from the legions of his admirers, including President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of Anambra State, those in his immediate constituency, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), did not send a word.

Speaking with The Guardian, yesterday, the legendary Okala, who was part of the victorious Green Eagles squad that won the 1980 African Cup of Nations, said he was still expecting his birthday message from the NFF.

“I was excited seeing congratulatory messages from President Buhari and Governor Soludo of Anambra State. It shows that there are Nigerians who still remember Okala for his good work as a goalkeeper. I was expecting the NFF, which is my immediate constituency, to lead the way. I don’t know why it is difficult for the football federation to felicitate me on my 71st birthday. The NFF should learn how to celebrate ex-players when they are alive, instead of shedding tears when they are gone.”

Okala, who was the first player to be crowned African Footballer of the Year in 1978 by African Sports Journalists Union (ASJU) added: “The NFF First Vice President, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, visited me in Onitsha some time ago when I celebrated my birthday. I doubt if the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, knows whether Emmanuel Okala is still alive or not. But I thank God for keeping me alive.”

Reminiscing on his active days as Nigeria’s number one goalkeeper, Okala said: “I am always happy any time we won a match. But it happens the other way round, I always feel sad. Till this moment, I still feel the same way. In most cases, I find it difficult to eat whenever Nigeria loses a football match. Football is in my blood.

“Now, our football is on the ground, as we lost the World Cup ticket to Ghana. I was really optimistic that the Super Eagles would grab the ticket to Qatar 2022 World Cup. But it happened that they lost it. All of us have a role to play in this rebuilding process of our football,” Okala stated.