Former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, has criticised the Nigerian government and football authorities for abandoning national football legends, citing the ordeal faced by the family of late goalkeeper, Peter Rufai, who reportedly had to beg for funds to bury him.
Speaking at Rufai’s funeral rites, West said he was devastated that the family of the former Nigerian number one goalkeeper struggled financially to give him a befitting burial, describing the situation as “madness.”
The ex-Inter Milan and AC Milan centre-back condemned the silence of the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), accusing them of leaving Rufai’s family to shoulder the entire burden.
“I’m just happy to be here and see some of my old contemporaries on this incredible day. But it is disheartening that Lagos State and the Nigerian Football Association dropped the buck on the family. Could you imagine that the family had to cry and beg for money just to bury a hero who fought for this country? That’s madness,” West lamented.
The former international admitted that Rufai’s death shook him deeply, revealing that he wept uncontrollably despite not shedding tears when his parents passed away.
“My mother passed on, I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands, I never shed tears. But when Rufai died, I had goose pimples all over my body, and tears rolled down my cheeks. What kind of nation treats its heroes this way?” he said.
West further compared Rufai’s plight to the neglect suffered by other Nigerian football icons, including Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, Thompson Oliha and Yisa Sofoluwe, insisting that the authorities have shown in the “most shameful way” that they do not value those who gave their lives to football and national service.
Expressing his disillusionment, West declared he would never advise his own son to play for Nigeria, saying the sacrifices made by footballers were not rewarded.
“I will never advise even my son to put his feet for this country. Do we even have a football federation or association in Lagos State? That a hero, a soldier, a football evangelist like Rufai had to be treated this way is disheartening,” he said.
Peter Rufai, popularly known as “Dodo Mayana,” was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper for over a decade, representing the Super Eagles at two FIFA World Cups and two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
