A year after, an exceptional legacy continues to be ignored

I woke up late on Wednesday, June 7 – I wasn’t feeling well- and found Stephen Keshi trending on Twitter and it clicked, it was the one-year anniversary of his death. I took a stroll to a nearby pharmacy to get some drugs and a fast food joint to get breakfast.

All through these trip to the pharmacy and the fast food joint, I was sad thinking about Keshi. Thinking about a man who lived his whole life putting his country first and whose mammoth legacy has been ignored by the dishonest and corrupt Nigerian culture.

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When Keshi died in June 2016, everyone from the Presidency to the leadership of Senate to the Sports Minister and State Governors promised several ways to immortalise him.

“His feats within and outside the country are a rich legacy which will continue to live on in our hearts,’’ Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo wrote in his tribute. A year later, his legacy has been forgotten and disregarded by the dishonest Nigerian culture.

A Nigerian culture that disrespects anything that does not come with money. A Nigerian culture that worships and fetes the rich, not men and women of honour who have impacted and changed the world we lived in.

Keshi was special and a true football man who delivered the best for Nigeria. As a player and captain of the Super Eagles, he won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and reached the second round of the FIFA World Cup.

As a coach he did the same thing, leading the Super Eagles to the AFCON title in 2013 and reaching the second round of the 2014 World Cup. No Super Eagles coach in history has achieved more.

Despite these achievements, Keshi was under appreciated by all. Media, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the general public. His death should have taught us a lesson, to respect our heroes while they are still alive. But even in his death, the disregard has continued.

We all witness the state funerals they give dead politicians in Nigeria. Everything shuts down for the funeral of politicians or ‘elder statesmen’ they usually call them. People who have over the years done nothing to help the average Nigerians. Leaders who have only enriched themselves with public funds.

Keshi’s funeral was ignored by the Federal Government with Delta and Edo state governments having minimal involvement. A year later after his death, no stadium, road or structure has been named after Keshi.

Several roads, monuments and structures have been named after Nigerian leaders of the past. ‘Nigerian hero’ they call them. ‘Heroes’ who are nothing but warlords who fought for just their private interests. But not for Keshi, a true Nigerian hero in every sense.

You see, the Nigerian culture loves and respects money. That’s the only way success is connoted. No one cares how much you have impacted the world.  They only care about how much you have; the number of houses and cars you have.

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That’s why just anybody who has money is king in Nigeria. From the most corrupt politicians to the rich ‘yahoo’ boy on the street.

If Keshi was one of these, he would have been more respected and worshipped in Nigeria. His rich friends would have pushed for a bill to be passed to name a road, stadium, park or airport after him.

But he is not; a year after his death, his exceptional legacy has continued to be ignored.