Former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, has vowed that he will never allow his son to represent Nigeria in football, citing the neglect of past heroes by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
West made the remarks on Friday at the funeral of late Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, who was laid to rest amidst emotional tributes from former teammates and fans.
Visibly shaken, the ex-Inter Milan star recalled the struggles faced by Rufai’s family to raise funds for his burial and linked it to the broader neglect of Nigerian football icons such as Stephen Keshi and Rashidi Yekini.
“Peter Rufai’s family had to cry and solicit for funds within our group just to bury him. It happened to Stephen Keshi, it happened to Rasheed Yekini. I will never advise my son to play for Nigeria,” West said.
The former defender went further, expressing both grief and disappointment at the state’s failure to honor its football greats:
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“I’m just happy to be here. I can see some of my old contemporaries on this incredible day, just sharing the burden and pain with the family that has rested upon their shoulders.
My mother passed on, I never cried. My father passed on right in my hands, I never cried. But when Rufai passed on, I had goose pimples all over my body. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
What kind of nation is this? I will never advise my son to play for this country. Say me out—do we even have a football federation in this Lagos—that this hero, this soldier, this football evangelist had to be treated this way?”
West’s emotional outburst has once again thrown the spotlight on Nigeria’s neglect of its football heroes, a recurring issue that continues to stir criticism against the NFF.