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One of the world’s most recognisable football faces and Nigeria’s most
decorated footballer, Nwankwo Kanu, is delight to watch on the football field.

Few players have his sublime skills and breathtaking moves. To watch him
play is to experience the thrill and excitement that only football can offer.

Expectedly, his genius on the pitch, which never ceases to amaze even his
opponents, has earned him millions of fans around the world. At 6ft 5 inches
tall, he is a big man but even larger still is his heart, which despite going
under the surgeon’s knife in 1997, has continued to beat for humanity.

Unlike many sportsmen who are content to enjoy the rewards of their career
alone with their families, Kanu has chosen the path of service for suffering
humanity. Eleven years ago, he set up the Kanu Heart Foundation, which has
raised funds to carry out heart surgeries on children from indigent homes as
well as young adults.

So far the foundation has carried out over 400 heart surgeries with a
success rate of over 98 percent. At the moment the foundation is in the process
of raising $35 million to establish a cardiac specialist hospital in Nigeria.

Immortalising genius

Alongside this project is another, which aims to capture on film the story
of Kanu: his successes, tribulations and generosity. The film, titled ‘Lion
Heart: The Kanu Story’, will bring to Kanu’s global fans an account of his rise
to fame with particular emphasis on his humble beginnings in the eastern part
of Nigeria.

Since news first broke of a film in the works about the former Super Eagles
captain, Nigerians have been wondering whether it is the real deal or one of
those opportunistic and hurriedly put-together pieces where some smart
individuals put together clips of the subject’s career.

“This is the real thing,” Kanu tells this reporter during an interview at a
hotel he owns, on Victoria Island in Lagos.

“I am fully involved and everyone involved in the project is a professional
to the core. A lot of thought and planning has gone into it and I would not be
associated with it if I didn’t think it was a worthwhile project,” he added.

He says the film has come at the right time given the identity crisis facing
some Nigerian youths. “There are a lot of our young people today who need direction.
The film can help them focus their lives in a way that would make them become
successful in future. I mean, look at it this way, while the movie will
chronicle my life, it will do so by portraying my beginnings including the
years of hardship, which a lot of people do not know about.”Today people see
Kanu, the successful football player, former national team captain and two-time
African Footballer of the Year but not many of them know the difficult road I
travelled to get there. Not many know the sacrifices I made along the way. By
the time they see the movie and come to understand that I wasn’t born with a
silver spoon in my mouth, they’ll be inspired to work hard and not just wait
for someone to drop something on their laps.”

Correcting negative impressions

Kanu says he is quite hopeful the film will have a positive impact on
Nigerian youth and others around the world who adore him. “The young ones
listen to me and I know that they will take away a lot of positive virtues
after seeing the film, I am quite sure of that.”

The film is a huge project even though neither Kanu nor the consultants on
the project are willing to disclose just how much is being expended on it. It
will be shot on many locations corresponding to the many places Kanu’s football
career has taken him. A lot of his former football club teammates in Nigeria
and Europe will also feature in the film.

The former Nigerian captain, whose career has seen him play at some of the
world’s biggest clubs–Ajax FC of Amsterdam, Inter Milan of Italy and Arsenal
FC in England–is happy to do the film for another reason.

“The film will help clear some misconceptions; it will assist in erasing
some negative beliefs about me. Because I have been around for a long time some
people have naturally come to the conclusion that I am very old; only a few
know how early I started. By the time the watch the film and follow my story
from birth through secondary school and the point I joined my first club
including seeing interviews with my contemporaries, they’ll realise how wrong
they’ve been,” Kanu says.

For the moment, he is happy to be involved in something that may help shape
lives as proceeds from the film will be channelled to the heart foundation to
help save young lives.