Nigerian ex-international, Etim John Esin has cast his mind back to a number of highlights in his career and recalled what made him sign for Iwuayanwu Nationale of Owerri instead of Abiola Babes of Abeokuta, sports247.ng reports.
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Both clubs, along with Leventis United of Ibadan, were Nigeria’s top teams at that time, but Etim (aka African Maradona) recalled how easily he made up his mind to join The Naze Millionaires.
He admitted it was simple because the club’s owner, Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, gave him a car, while Chief M.K.O. Abiola was too busy to attend to him.
‘Etim 10,’ however, further recalled how he was shot while driving the car in Lagos and admitted it was due to indiscipline, which happened to be his major weakness as a footballer.
He confessed, “One of my pitfalls was indiscipline. You think you can get away with everything, but, at the end of the day, you are just deceiving yourself.
“If you can discipline yourself, be humble, the sky will be your limit.”
Etim then recounted the factors that made him move to Owerri instead of Abeokuta.
He recalled: “Iwuayanwu was the one who gave me a 505 Peugeot in which I was shot.
“How many players were driving 505 Evolution at that time. Very few, very rare.
“I could have signed for Abiola Babes; but he was never available. Every time I met him, he was always travelling, but Iwuayanwu gave me a car.”
Etim also spoke about how his father reluctantly blessed his football career, but that was after the shooting incident that took him to a Lagos hospital in 1987.
“My father never wanted me to play football. In spite of that, I have a passion for football, because that’s what I took as an interest in my part of the family.
“It was until I was shot in 1987 that my dad recognised what I was doing. When he got to the hospital, he saw journalists, every newspaper wanting to interview him.
“That was when he really, really accepted me and gave me his blessings to play football.
“Before then, he wanted me to get education like Adokie Amasiamaka and Segun Odegbami, who have educational background.
“Oliseh has a little bit, Owoblow and some others. Only few ex-interna
