Tunde Odesola

Before the raving hawk disappeared into the sunny afternoon sky, the mother hen caught a glimpse of it just in time. Squawking and clucking, the brown mother hen sounded a throaty alarm, frantically calling on her 11 chicks, who sprinted into the sanctuary of her warm wings, where they brooded, peeping through the safety of feathers.

Like witches, hawks on predatory flights don’t make a noise. The screaming and scampering of mother hen after an attack is the first telltale of tragedy. The second telltale is the sight of a dangling chick in clutchy claws, rising helplessly skywards.

On that fateful day, the mother hen brooded her chicks out of sight from a hovering hawk. But a particularly arrogant and belligerent chick called OsinmHEN slipped through the mother’s tail end and decided to play in the hot afternoon sand, chest puffed, shoulders raised like Aso Rock fence.

The hawk sighted the stray prey and flew higher up, and away, out of sight. The mother hen monitored the ravenous hawk with red-alertness, assured her chicks were safe underneath.

Then it happened.

With the swiftness of a whirlwind, the hawk suddenly swept downwards, like a missile deployed from a military jet, grabbing OsinmHEN with both claws, but the protection of the mother hen was comprehensive. In a jiffy, she sprang and smashed into the predator midair, making it lose both balance and grip. And OsinmHEN fell off to safety, limping back under the mother’s brood.

Furious, the mother hen scolded the petulant OsinmHEN, saying it could have ended up in the belly of the hawk if not for providence. Then, as mothers do when warnings fail, mother hen reached for a myth told by Ifa scholar, Ifayemi Elebuibon.

“Listen,” she said, voice laden with solemn grief. “Let me tell you about Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́.”

“Once upon a forest,” the mother hen began, “a mother squirrel received a warning from Ifa: ‘keep your son indoors for seven days, death prowls’. However, on the third day, Baby Squirrel sprinted out from the family burrow, waving his bushy tail from one tree to another. The forest was quiet. ‘There are no predators,’ he thought.

“He didn’t hear the gun. But the forest did. The boom shook leaves loose from branches.

“When she heard the shot, Iya Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́, the mother squirrel, ran deeper into the burrow, looking for her son. Little ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ was nowhere in sight. Panic gripped the mother. She couldn’t sleep. So, she went in search of her son all evening and all night. As she was returning home, hiding behind trees, she stopped in front of the hunter’s house, out of sight.

“Behold, by a flickering firelight, she saw the hunter and his family having a dinner of pounded yam and egusi. From behind a fallen trunk, she peered. And she saw the head of her son floating in the family soup, and the hunter grabbed the head, stroked it ‘ko, ko’ in the plate to shake off some egusi, before airlifting it to the mouth.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:[OPINION] Siyan Oyeweso: Lessons In Virtue And Vanity

“Iya Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ shook her head and shed the tears of a mother, saying: ‘Orí ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ koko láwo, bí a wí fún ọmọ ẹni, ọmọ ẹni a gbọ́.’”

Of the mother hen’s 11 chicks, only OsinmHEN refused to understand the Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ myth and the consequences of disobedience. Blinded by arrogance, OsinmHEN, who thinks himself a hawk, is bound to walk the path of self-destruction soon again.

And so, in the distant Moroccan city called Fez, Nigeria’s Super Eagles fearsome striker, Victor Osimhen, replayed the ancient tragedies of OsinmHEN and Ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́.

It was in a round of 16 match against Mozambique at the ongoing African Cup of Nations soccer tournament, Super Eagle Osimhen exhibited the traits of Super Chicken OsinmHEN. Nigeria was leading 3-0, and Osimhen had scored two of the three goals, with fellow striker Ademola Lookman scoring the opening goal and providing two assists.

In a moment of arrogant madness, Osimhen, who once hawked ‘pure water’ and sold newspaper in the city of Lagos, pushed away the hand of his cautioning captain, Wilfred Ndidi, and launched a verbal attack on his more decorated teammate, Ademola Lookman, pointing accusing finger at him, as he belched, “No try am again, no try am again,” like a member of the renowned union of road transport workers.

In the glare of a shell-shocked world, Osimhen proved once again that you may take a lizard from Olusosun to Turkey, it will never become a crocodile. No matter how long irú (locust beans) stays in the soup, it will not lose its smell.

Let’s imagine for a moment that Lookman had the temperament of Yomi Peters, the dreadful Stationery Stores FC of Lagos playermaker, notorious for beating up referees. Known as Mudashiru Atanda, Peters changed his name to Yomi Peters when he came back from suspension for head-butting referee Bolaji Festus Okubule. In the 1980-1990 era of rampant fan attacks, many referees feared Peters more than they feared fans.

In the height of his arrogance, if he played in the national team of yesteryears, Osimhen could never have pushed away former captains of the national team, such as Chairman Christian Chukwu, Segun Odegbami, Stephen Keshi, Yobo Joseph, Sunday Oliseh, Austin Eguavoen, etc., as he shoved aside captain Ndidi, before unleashing unnecessary assault on Lookman.

Can he shove aside any of Tarila Okorowanta, Etin Esin, Daniel Amokachi, Taribo West, Bright Omokaro and Sunday Eboigbe, or launch a verbal assault on them? Osimhen no go try am, walahi. Otherwise, di match for turn into a mixed martial free-for-all, with players losing their teeth.

Were it not for emotional maturity on the part of Ndidi and Lookman, Osimhen, by his childish attitude, would have put a knife to the bond of unity in the team, and things would have fallen apart because a house divided against itself can never stand.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:[OPINION] Tinubu: Ade Ori Okin Befits KWAM 1, Not Awujale Crown

Osimhen’s outburst sheds light on how people in positions of authority look down on people they consider beneath them. It is an on-the-pitch reenactment of how Nigerian security agencies, military and police, especially, oppress fellow Nigerians just because they bear guns.

This oppressive mindset formed the motivation behind a retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, grabbing a large portion of unapproved land in Abuja, building on it a sprawling edifice that his life’s savings cannot justify, yet turned around to deploy armed soldiers to guard the property when FCT authorities asked him to provide approval documents for the land.

Raised in the Olusosun ghetto of Lagos, Osimhen, as a child, had seen an established pattern of ‘might is right’ in everyday Nigeria and has imbibed loud talk, threat and arrogance as a way of life. Osimhen was the one who went on social media to curse his coach, Finidi George, and Nigerian Football Federation members over a misunderstanding.

He said, “Ẹni ku’re, walahi talahi (It shall not be well with you in God’s name). I don lose all the respect wey I get for dat man (Finidi).” He burst into a Yoruba curse, “Ti alale ba ni ko da fun yin, alaro o ni ye yin, meaning ‘if the evening god decrees goodness for you, morning god will decree evil for you’. Ogun kill anybody, anybody wey dey believe all those nonsense. I tell am (Finidi) say make I come camp, make I come follow di boys dem talk. Make I come follow dem dey. I spoke with my fellow teammates, too. Wetin im (Finidi) tell me, ‘Oh no, you know, you have to be with the family; oh dis, oh dat. (So,) I go dey live my life dey go, I face my life dey go. But team don lose now, una wan find person wey dey at fault, na me wey dey nurse my injury una come think say una wan put my name because of say Super Eagles get two bad games, I know how many injuries weyI don use play. Ẹni ku’reni ku’re se! All of una no go die better. I no go allow one person to come and say, ‘you can’t beg Osimhen to come and play, wetin bi say you can’t beg wetin?’”

Three months after Osimhen’s outburst, Finidi reacted, saying, “The meeting we had, we never talked about Osimhen at all. The only time Osimhen’s name came up was when the minister talked about hearing about indiscipline while we were at the AFCON, and he mentioned Osimhen’s name.

“It was in that meeting, I think one of the officials, I don’t know who, called him or sent him a message because they wanted to save their heads as the minister was very furious about the team not doing well.

“Someday, he is going to realise it’s not true. I think they used him because they wanted to save their heads because of bad results. It’s better they talked about Finidi George than the real issues, and it’s quite unfortunate that he came up live and said those things.

“I sent him a message to tell him that’s not the best way to go about lying. From that point, I didn’t hear from him; he didn’t apologise. Since then, I’ve moved on. I wish everybody well.”

A more emotionally mature player would not have taken to social media to rant against his coach on such a misunderstanding, an action which further reinforces Osimhen’sarrogant mentality because he did not rant against Napoli FC authorities when they blocked his move away from the club. He knows very well that doing so might affect his career.

What Osimhen fails to realise is that his on-field and off-field antics put a question mark on his emotional intelligence – an asset in modern football. As the world has become a cyber village, the actions of popular personalities are splashed on social media, enabling football scouts, in Osimhen’s own case, to see what elite footballers are up to.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Aláàfin Ọ̀yọ́ Cuddling A Dead Empire (1)

Exposing the volatility of Osimhen’s emotional state, his viral outburst against Finidi showed him threatening to beat up those with him when he was recording the video over what he deemed as interference during the recording. For someone who emerged from such a humble beginning as Osimhen, a modicum of humility is expected to temper their life.

The Lookman and Finidi episodes are not the only avoidable clashes Osimhen has had in his soccer career. During a World Cup qualifier in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Osimhen walked out on his teammates after Zimbabwe equalised, owing to goalkeeper Nwabali’s mistake in the dying minutes of the match. If he was annoyed that Nigeria drew the match, why did he not score enough goals to ensure victory for the Super Eagles? On countless occasions, Nwabali had saved the Super Eagles’ blushes when he (Osimhen) and other outfield players failed to live up to expectations. Tactically speaking, Nwabali contributed more to the Super Eagles than Osimhen during the World Cup qualifiers.

To describe Osimhen’s tantrums as passion is to call a two-year-old baby who loves playing with fire, as courageous. Indulgence breeds impunity. Indulgence in collective sports breeds disunity and kills team spirit.

Sharing his thoughts with me, a colleague and sports aficionado, Adekunle Salami, described Osimhen as ranking among the five best strikers in the world today. He said, “Every striker wants to score. Every midfielder wants to lay that match-defining pass, every defender wants to make that goal-thwarting block. Football is a passionate game. However, in all of this, football is a game that operates on a strict code of conduct because so many people, children especially, watch it.

“Therefore, players must be seen to be of good conduct. I love Osimhen. I love his dedication to the national team, but he must show respect to his fellow teammates. We must remember Osimhen is from the slum. He was taught life’s hard lessons on the street. Struggling has been a way of life for him; we must remember that. But this is not to give room for the bad attitude he is exhibiting. He should have waited for the game to end and then gone to Lookman and told him about how he felt. We were leading 3-0, and you have scored twice, what else do you want? Some people have not scored. Akor has not scored.

“After the Mozambique match, all the players prayed together. He just stormed out of the field, threw his accreditation away, and went to the dressing room. He even threatened to leave for Turkey. They should have allowed him to go. He is the one who would be hurt, not Nigeria. It is a privilege to play for Nigeria; he must not abuse the privilege. He cannot misbehave in Galatasaray, his Turkish team, because they have a code of conduct. Osimhen has grown in this disrespectful and distasteful behaviour because he was never sanctioned.”

Another sports guru, Festus Abu, said the issue should not be overflogged, adding that such things happen in football. “It is one of those things in football. But it becomes worrisome when it turns into a recurring decimal. The coach and his team should ensure that the incident does not escalate into an albatross. I hope Osimhen has learnt his lessons.”

Nothing blinds like arrogance. Ademola Lookman, whom Osimhen talked disrespectfully to on the pitch, is even more decorated than him. Lookman plays for a bigger club in a bigger league and has made more impact in Europe than Osimhen, scoring a hat-trick in a European Cup final. In the ongoing competition, Lookman has scored the same number of goals as him, but has more goal contributions, earning him two Man-of-the-Match awards.

Osimhen, bring your shoulders down, biko.

Email: tundeodes2003@yahoo.com

Facebook: @Tunde Odesola

X: @Tunde_Odesola