A former captain of FC Robo Queens of Lagos, Habeebat Kehinde Akinwande has revealed her love for the songs of fuji music icon, Saheed Osupa, which she says can help anyone easily overcome difficulties in life, Sports247 reports.
The badging defender, who had a handful of caps with the under-17 women’s national team, Flamingos in 2014, and Super Falcons in 2021, revealed that she was introduced to Saheed Osupa’s music by a friend and she has since then been able to gain inspiration from it.
Akinwande, who also previously played for Nasarawa Amazons of Lafia and ZFK Obilic of Serbia, before joining her present team, Apolonia Fier of Albania in 2023, explained:
“If you are having a difficult time, maybe a difficult moment at your working place or even if life has not been fair to you, there are so many albums you can listen to through Saheed Osupa.
“(I got to know this through one of my friends) he’s the one who loves Saheed Osupa, and he plays all of his albums. Whenever one of Saheed Osupa’s albums comes out, he plays it till he is able to know all the lyrics. Whenever he’s playing it, I’m always there.”
Akinwande, who and her twin are the last born children in a family of seven, further spoke about her upbringing and the inspiration she got to become a professional footballer, which she described as a very wise decision that is now helping her shape her life.
The hard as steel centre back added, “I am from Oke Ilaro in Abeokuta, but I was born and brought up in Mushin, Idi Oro precisely. When I was growing up, I had brothers who had friends playing football, and I developed an interest in playing with them. When they found out that I had interest, whenever they were going out to play, they always encouraged me to join them.
“From there, one of my brothers took me to a place called FC Robo Football Academy at Ilasa. I then started my football training there. That was the year 2002, and that was when I started my football career. I started growing, and I am happy that I’ve been to different countries through football.
In fact, football is my life. I’ve been playing since I was a kid, though I didn’t think of it as a professional job at that time.”
Akinwande also spoke about the role that her mother played in encouraging her morally and financially to ensure she took playing football seriously; then she equally thanked FC Robo’s president, Coach Emmanuel Osahon for being a worthwhile mentor for her as well.
She narrated further, “Along the line and in the long run, when I saw people making it through football and with the encouragement I got from my coach, I am happy where I am. Today, I can say Allahamdullahi. I am also happy that my parents have never once discouraged me.
In fact, they were the ones buying kit for me when I started playing football.
“Before I lost my mum, she used to be the one buying my kits, and even used to give me money for transport to training. Whenever I got back from school, I would need to go to training, and she always encouraged me.
“There were challenges, though, because it normally is not easy for someone going to school and at the same time going for training. You had to get home when it was really sunny, and you won’t have time to rest before going to training. Then, after training, I used to go to Arabic school. So, I really did not have time to relax except on Sundays.
“A major challenge I faced was when I lost my mum. It was not easy, because she was the one encouraging and supporting me to do many things. When she was no longer there, no one could be like her. Even when they promised heaven and earth, they can never be like your mum. After losing her, things were not going well for me any longer as expected.”
At that point, Akinwande changed the tone of her narration, as she recalled the turnaround that came for her career when she joined the Super Falcons for an exhibition contest during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and later for an invitational competition in Turkey.
Though she could not seal a deal at that point, Akinwande recounted that many more offers soon started coming her way, among which were deals in Serbia and later Albania, where she is now currently plying her trade.
Akinwande disclosed, “The journey was not smooth, until my first travel abroad. That was in 2010, when I went to South Africa to play a mixed competition of boys and girls during the World Cup. We came out second in that competition, but I continued struggling until 2015, when I left FC Robo Queens to play for Nasarawa Amazons. I was later invited to some of the junior national teams, but I did not have the chance to play any competition with them.
“Later on, in 2016, I travelled to Serbia to play for a team in Belgrade. I was also supposed to travel to Sweden in 2020, but it was not possible because of covid. I then travelled with the Super Falcons to Turkey for a four-nations tournament in 2021, and I almost signed for a club there, but the offer later flopped.”
Sports247 reports that, in spite of all her travails, Habeebat Kehinde Akinwande is now settled in Albania and, though age is no longer of her side, she appears to have cemented a stable future for herself.
