If death were a referee, he would have been extremely authoritarian. Apart from the fact that a referee’s decision is normally the final, umpire death would have been notorious on the pitch. Among other terrible scenarios, he could end a match mid-way, even when nothing practically called for that.
This appears to be what death did on Wednesday when it took away a former Nigerian international, captain and coach, Stephen Keshi. The suddenness of his death has rattled millions of football lovers within and outside the country.
Perhaps because it has been relatively long when a sports personality of his calibre suddenly departed as he did, the development has set emotions burning. Last year, the country lost the likes of coach Willy Bazuaye and goalkeeper Wilfred Agbonavbare. They were duly mourned but the shock was not as widespread as we have now.
Emotions close to what is currently being experienced manifested after the death of RashidiYekini, Muda Lawal and Sam Okwaraji, with the last two, which respectively happened in 1991 and 1989, being very sudden.
While Lawal slumped in his Ibadan home, Okwaraji had slumped during a match at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, and subsequently died of cardiac arrest- related problems.
Details of the cause of the death of the Big Boss, as Keshi was fondly called, are still unfolding. But the initial report, which indicates that it was not after any long illness, has again provoked fears about heart failure and other related conditions. Physicians would say that, in the real sense of it, there are no sudden deaths. Their argument is that many people invoke the slogan only because they failed to pay attention to symptoms of some problems that later tragically manifested in the sudden passage.
Yet the layman cannot stop getting puzzled each time a sportsman such as Keshi dies suddenly. The belief is that such a person automatically fulfills one of the principles that keep the heart active: exercise.
According to Dr. Ramon Moronkola, a cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Lagos, what is lazily referred to as sudden deaths may have an underlying health or hereditary heart condition.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent, he notes that being a sportsman does not foreclose such conditions because the strenuous activity involved is not the type of exercise which doctors recommend.
“Being active in sports can delay the manifestation of such heath condition while a person can die in the course of such a strenuous exercise,” he adds.
So phenomenal has the wave of tributes that have greeted Keshi’s death that some people have accused many Nigerians of mocking him while alive only to crown him at death. The concerned folks, including ace comedian, Ali Baba; and a scholar and communication expert, Taiwo Adedokun, believe that such a response is hypocritical.
Yet, some have noted that although many people put excessive pressure on Keshi to leave, especially when he failed to take the Super Eagles to the Orange Nations Cup in 2014, it never meant that they hated him or had anything against his person. It was just the spirit of the game at play.
Celebrities, including Richard Mofe-Damijo and The Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu, describe Keshi as a hero.
In an online post, Mofe-Damijo says, “My heart bleeds today, not for the Big Boss, but for my friend and brother. Stephen and I have a history. Besides being age mates, our paths crossed from time to time. I had the privilege of seeing him at his highest and lowest moments.
“I recall when we both modelled for Dakova in the early 90s and how he was such a great person to be around. When his playing days were over and he was grappling with his next career move I had the privilege of being around him. Only months ago he buried his wife and now this.
“I can’t believe he’s gone. I was in denial and stayed watching Channels TV hoping the station would refute the news of his death. This is one death that hurts to the deepest places in my heart. Rest in peace, my brother and friend, Stephen Keshi the great.”
Disbelief is the subject of Momodu’s short message too. He says, “Good night, Chairman Stephen Keshi. Rest in peace, as I continue to live in denial.”
(Punch)
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