SOURCE - Accounts from neighbours and associates paint a picture of a man who struggled with serious mental and delusional disorder after losing life savings to a bungled investment.
1. Before his death, all his automobiles were in a state of disrepair and many times he was seen trekking in shorts in different parts of the city.
2. One Mukaila Babalola said, he led Yekini to stalls where women sold roasted plantains(bole) on Onireke road near Multichoice office in Ibadan.
“Always in short but not sport trousers,”“I remember reversing my car upon sighting him soliloquizing along Golf club area last year.3. Babalola described the locations he often sighted Yekini as “pathetic”, he saw the former Super Eagles striker emerging from road side bush, with leftover paper squeezed in his palm, after easing his bowels around Sabo and Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan.
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One neigbour, who claimed to have known the ex-international well over a decade, traced the problems to a deal between Yekini and a confidant known only as Ibraheem. This brings us to the next account by Yekini's neighbours
4. Yekini started losing his mind and began behaving erratically due to his loss of huge sum of money to the death of his only confidant and business partner, Ibraheem, who ran a bureau de change in Sabo Area of Ibadan.”
According to the neighbour, Yekini liquidated all his savings and turned them to cash which he transferred to Ibraheem for his foreign exchange and jewelry trade.
Ibraheem was gunned down by armed robbers after receiving a tip-off that he was to transact a huge amount that day and the robbers made away with the bulk of the capital which belonged to Yekini.
Barely without any savings left, that incident will prove a turning point in the former soccer star’s life, and will lead him through a bitter struggle that ended in death last week, the neighbour said. For Yekini, the experience added boost to his decision to lead an isolated life.
“He preferred to be on his own, believing Ibraheem’s death was the handiwork of wicked rivals,” the neighbour said.
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On his website, former teammate and defensive midfielder, Sunday Oliseh, called Yekini “one of the best African players and legends to ever walk this earth.”
But Oliseh reckoned that somehow a world cup match in which Yekini featured and was booed by fans as he was nearing retirement played a devastating role in the former striker’s end.
“Yekini felt betrayed and this haunted him till his death,” Oliseh wrote. “How could one give so much and receive so little in return from your own kind?” he asked.
More than that possibly haunted Yekini. Oliseh recalls the Super Eagles’ African nations’ cup triumph of 1994 in which Yekini played a key role, and winning the vital matches for Nigeria.
“Almost 20 years after this major conquest, Yekini is yet to receive the house the Nigerian government promised him,” Oliseh said.
“In other words, he died not being rewarded for his efforts to make Nigeria great.”
Heavy sigh.. It's obvious Rashidi Yekini died of what one neighbour summed up as depression, I think Nigeria just hates her heroes, that's my conclusion. Our leader have alot coming for them, all I can say.
May his soul rest in peace. Amen
eyaaa
ReplyDeleteYeah...read that on http://www.mridontry.com the period he died...May his soul rest in peace..Amen!
ReplyDelete