Mikel won’t marry a white lady

All over the world, the game of football has
turned the fortunes of many families around for
good. In Nigeria, examples of families whose
stories have changed from grass to grace
abound.
One of them is that of Super Eagles and
Chelsea of England midfielder, John Mikel Obi.
His elder brother and Heartland FC of Owerri’s
goalkeeper, Ebele Obi, made the confession in
a no-holds-barred interview with TSW in
Owerri recently. The former Enugu Rangers
captain also spoke on the celebrated Kidnap
episode of his father, his relationship with
Mikel, his love life and Mikel’s, his football
career and many more.

Excerpts!
Football in my family
Actually football runs in my family. It is
something we inherited from my Dad because
he was a great player in his days as a youth.
At the moment three of us are into football; I,
my immediate younger brother, Mikel, and our
last born.

Impact
The game of football has really impacted on
my family.
From, hitherto, a humble background, football
has taken my family to such a great height
that we never imagined. Today, my family is
popular both in Nigeria and the world over,
particularly, as a result of the fame of my
younger brother, Mikel.

Transformation
Before now, ours was a family that fed from
hand to mouth. We were living in two-room
apartment in Jos not because my Dad could
really afford the rent but because he was the
care-taker of the compound. The truth is that
we had nothing to offer then. But today, the
story is different; thanks to football. Apart from
Mikel that is playing big time professional
football in Europe, I’m also playing
professional football here in the Nigerian
League and my other younger brother is also a
footballer. Football has really done us a lot of
good. We now have houses and cars of our
own. So, I give God the glory. How we started
our football career When we were growing up, I
was the first to start playing football with a
team called Greater Tomorrow before I joined
the Pepsi Football Academy. Not quite long,
Mikel joined me at Pepsi Academy. And that’s
how we started our football career. Our
younger brother, the last born of my parents is
also playing football.

Relationship with Mikel
Mikel is my younger brother. I’m two years
older than him and so he’ll continue to be my
younger brother. He respects me a lot as his
elder brother and I respect for him too even as
my younger brother. We reason together. If
there’s something he has for the family he
seeks my advice and we discuss it and agree
on what to do. And then I pass the information
to my Dad and Mum. We get along very well
and I pray we continue that way.

Encouragement from Mikel
I must confess that Mikel has really
encouraged me in my football career and I’m
grateful to him. I cannot deny the fact that he
has done so much for me and the family as a
whole. Each time he’s coming home, he buys
me training kits. He brings me the kits of
Chelsea’s goalkeeper (Peter Czech). He also
buys me clothes, shoes and many other
things. He calls me to wish me well whenever I
have a match.
He has been doing a lot to encourage me in
my football career.

Mum is a Chelsea fan
My mum watches Mikel whenever Chelsea has
a match. Even when she travels, she would be
rushing back home to watch Mikel play. She is
a Chelsea fan.

Father’s kidnap episode
The incident happened when I was still with
Enugu Rangers. The management of Rangers
did everything to encourage me during that
trying period. I was on top of my game then so
the management couldn’t drop me from the
squad. I recall that we (Rangers) were playing
in the continent then. Both the management
and my teammates kept encouraging me to
continue to play assuring me that my father
would come back safe. It was really a difficult
period for me but I thank God that at the end
of the day my father was released without a
ransom paid to the kidnappers.
Actually the kidnappers demanded for a huge
sum of money because they heard that Mikel
is paid in thousands of pounds.

Lessons from Dad’s kidnap
In life, we learn from our experiences. Initially,
we were very free with visitors in our home. We
used to welcome everybody into our house
but little did we know that some of the people
we welcomed into the house were planning
evil against us. But since that kidnap episode,
we have tightened the security within and
around the compound. Now before you come
into the family, we must ask who you are.
Whenever my Dad goes out, there are usually
security details that keep watch over him.
The same applies to my Mum and every other
member of the family. You may not see the
security operatives but they are always there
monitoring every move around members of my
family wherever we are. Even when we move
with our private cars, the security details will
always follow. When I’m with my friends, I’m
always conscious. In a nutshell, my Dad’s
kidnap episode has really opened our eyes to
be security conscious at all times. But in all,
God has been our ultimate security; the author
and finisher of our faith.

Career dream
It’s not been easy. Each time I have a good
game or training session and sleep and wake
up the following day, I would tell myself that
I’m not supposed to be plying my trade here in
the domestic league. I should be playing in
Europe. But I know that it is difficult for
goalkeepers to make it to Europe unlike the
field players that easily secure contracts with
clubs abroad. But I know that my
breakthrough shall soon come. I keep praying
to God and keep on talking to my brother and
other interested agents that would like to
export me abroad. My brother is working very
hard for me to get a club in Europe.
I know that I’m a good goalkeeper and I’m
working very hard but I’m not going to kill
myself. I can only work hard and pray to God
to help me get a club abroad.

Invitation to national team
Everything depends on God and I know that
God’s time is the best. I’ve never been invited
to any national team before; be it U-17 or
U-20 not to talk of the senior national team.
It’s not as if I don’t want to be there, I would
love to serve my country. I would love to make
my family and fatherland proud. But I believe
it’s only a matter of time for me to get my
chance. Perhaps, that time would come under
the present coach, Stephen Keshi and it
comes, I shall grab it with both hands.

Discipline
I cannot talk about any other goalkeeper on
the issue of discipline. I can only talk about
myself. I’m not undisciplined. But people tend
to misunderstand me sometimes. For
instance, when I was the captain of Enugu
Rangers, whenever I made a case for the
welfare of the players, it would be interpreted
as indiscipline. But I don’t know about other
goalkeepers regarding who is disciplined and
who is not. In any case, I wonder why
goalkeepers are always made to look like
scapegoats. We are not different from the field
players. It is wrong to paint the goalkeepers
black.

My assets/qualities as a goalkeeper
I believe with God all things are possible. I do
not claim to be the best goalkeeper in the
country. But I’m sure when the opportunity
comes for me to be in the national team, I
would grab it with both hands. I’m only
praying for the call-up to come first. If it
comes, I’d work very hard to make sure that it
does not slip off my hands. My strongest point
as goalkeeper is the ability to deal with
pressure. I’m usually very calm in goal no
matter the amount of pressure. When you
expect me to make mistakes, I don’t because
I’m not there to make mistakes. I’m very calm
and calculative. Above all, I’m very prayerful. I
pray a lot before I go into a match. And when I
cannot pray, I have some pastors that
intercede for me so that I can have a good
match.

Target with Heartland
I left Enugu Rangers because I wanted to face
fresh challenges and I believe that Heartland
FC offers me that challenge.So I’m not in
Heartland for a jamboree. I’m here to work.

Sex and romance
As a footballer and as a popular figure, one
must learn to cope with every situation that
comes his way. Concerning my social life, I’m
currently into a relationship and I don’t want
to be distracted. I want to be focused and
keep on praying that everything works out fine
so that I can settle down with the same person
I’m into a relation with. I’m not carried away
with my brother’s wealth. No doubt girls come
around me but I remain focused on my career.
Mikel too is into a relationship at the moment
right there in the United Kingdom. When you
stick to one person at a time, I think it saves
you a lot of trouble. But when you jump from
one today to another tomorrow, you create
room for every other girl to come in. We are not
on that track at all.

Mikel won’t marry a white lady
No, no, no! We cannot advise Mikel to marry a
foreigner knowing full well what it involves.
We’ll make him realize that if he gets married
to a foreigner, whatever comes out of the
marriage, he should be prepared to take it. I
wouldn’t want my brother to be a victim of a
failed marriage.

Even when I visited him in London, I warned
him about white ladies. I told him that even if
he’s having a relationship with a white lady, it
should stop at that; he should not allow such
relationship to end up in marriage. I told him
whenever he wants to settle down in marriage,
he should come down to Nigeria and pick a
wife. If he’s thinking towards the direction of
getting married to a white lady, we are not in
support of that. My parents are not in support
of him getting married to a white. If he’s in a
relationship, that’s just a relationship.