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Taribo West slams NFF, Lagos Govt, FA over neglect of late Peter Rufai’s family
By Dayo Awoniyi
Former Nigeria defender Taribo West has blasted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Lagos State Government, accusing them of abandoning the family of late Nigerian goalkeeping legend, Peter Rufai.
Rufai, fondly called Dodo Mayana, died in July aged 61. He was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the country’s maiden FIFA World Cup appearance in the USA later that year.
Speaking at Rufai’s burial in Lagos on Thursday, West condemned what he described as a recurring culture of neglect toward Nigeria’s football icons.
“Is this acting that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigerian Football Association, and they drop the buck on the family? I felt in my spirit there is nothing to put your life for.
“That’s why I said I had to shift back so that I would not implode. It’s grieving,” the former Inter Milan and AC Milan defender said.
West recalled similar cases involving other Nigerian greats.
“What kind of nation is this? With this kind of example, they showed it in Stephen Keshi, blessed memory, Thompson Oliha, blessed memory, Rashidi Yekini. I will never even advise my son to play for this country.”
The 1996 Olympic gold medalist admitted Rufai’s passing struck him harder than even his own parents’ deaths.
“My mother passed on, I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands, I never shed tears. Rufai passed on, I had ghost pimples on my body. And every individual I spoke to, there were tears rolling down my cheeks.”
The former defender further lamented that Rufai’s family had to rely on financial support from ex-teammates.
“Could you imagine that the family would be crying, just to solicit him within our groups to ask for money? That is madness. Do we have a football federation, or do we have just an association in this Lagos State? That this hero, this soldier, this football evangelist has to be treated this way, and his family?”
Rufai enjoyed a distinguished career in Belgium, Spain, and Portugal before retiring to embrace a life of ministry. In 2014, he founded the Shelter in the Storm Miracle Ministries of All Nations in Lagos.
