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The news of Uche Okafor’s death is numbing. It is heart rending particularly given the nature of his demise.

Coming so after
soon the death of Emmanuel Ogoli, the Ocean Boys defender who slumped
during a match and later died on his way to hospital, it unnerves one
completely.

As a journalist and
football fan,I did not have a personal relationship with him. Our
meetings were always formal and professional; however I developed a
strong liking for the cool and professional way he went about his
business on the pitch.

As a footballer, he
always tried his best and was not one to begrudge his more illustrious
colleagues in the national team their good fortune in having more
regular playing time in the squad. Uche always had a smile even though
it appeared a tad mischievous sometimes.

His Eagles team
mates, crushed by his death, have all spoken of his innate goodness.
Emeka Ezeugo in particular says he was not only a jolly good fellow but
was often the squad’s safety valve of sorts:

“I remember those
days we used to play together, on an off the pitch he was fun to be
with. Back then in the dressing room he cracked jokes that make us all
laugh and ease the tension in us,” Ezeugo said speaking shortly after
news of Uche’s death broke.

So, what happened
to him? How could a man so full of life, who never missed an
opportunity to come home from the United States where he was based and
mingle with his former teammates and joining them in whatever programme
they initiated, be found hanging in his room?

Doing the right thing

When on October 19
last year, Ezeugo and other Eagles of Aba extraction marched against
kidnapping and other violent crimes in Abia State, Uche joined them.

I saw Uche several
times on television either working as a pundit or commenting on one
issue or another affecting Nigerian football; there was no hint that
there was anything wrong with him. He appeared the normal Uche we had
always known.

It’s going to be
difficult for his colleagues to live down his death. It is always hard
to take when someone suddenly exits this life in his prime. Had Uche
been manic depressive or had suffered from one ailment or the other,
his friends and fans would at least have had time to prepare. As it is,
he looked perfectly normal.

Which naturally
raises the question: was he murdered? Is there more to his death than
has become immediately apparent? Did he have issues with anyone that
would lead such individual or individuals to do him harm?

Thankfully, he
lived and died in a society where the police take issues of crime
prevention and detection seriously. If there was anything untoward
about his death, we can at least count on the police there to get to
the bottom of it. While that may not bring Uche back to life, his
family, his Super Eagles colleagues and his fans here in Nigeria can at
least feel satisfied that justice will be done.

On the other hand,
should it turn out that he had indeed taken his own life then it raises
different questions entirely. Suicide is alien to us as a people. For
us Nigerians, there are cultural safety nets, which prevent us from
going over the precipice. Our familial connexions strained as they have
become by our worsening economic situation still provide avenues for
ventilation of pent up frustrations. Whether he explored this option,
we may never know.

In the interim, we
mourn a man who served his country diligently, a man not afraid to add
his voice to the clamour for decent living and the right of his kinsmen
to live in comfort and security.

Like Ndubuisi
Okosieme, one of his colleagues in the Eagles 1988 Nations Cup squad
has said, Nigeria should treat him fairly even in death. It is the
responsibility of us all to ensure that his immediate family is not
forgotten once he has been committed to the earth. His burial even
should not be a family affair alone. He served Nigeria and served it
well and so the nation needs to send him off in a befitting manner.