Legendary Nigerian Footballer Rashidi Yekini Dead

Series of media reports have noted that Rashidi Yekini known to have scored the first goal for Nigeria in World Cup is dead. He was 49. According to Wikipedia, Yekini was born in Kaduna. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Côte d'Ivoire to play for Africa Sports National. From there he went to Portugal and Vitória de Setúbal, where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Portuguese first division's top scorer, in 1993–94, as his performances (32 matches, 34 goals) earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year in 1993, the first ever from the nation.

In the 1994 summer, Yekini was bought by Olympiacos FC, but did not get along with teammates and left. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal, which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón. He successively played with FC Zürich, Club Athlétique Bizertin and Al-Shabab Riyadh, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, at 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger FC.

In 2005, 41-year old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway FC. Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria's national side in 58 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup (where he scored Nigeria's first-ever goal in a World Cup, in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria) and the 1998 World Cup.

Additionally, Yekini also helped the Super Eagles win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, where he also topped the goal charts, and participated at Olympic level, in Seoul 1988.

He was reportedly sick for a while . One of Africa’s greatest footballers, he was said to have suffered a neurological illness which hinges on belief that is pathological and held, despite evidence to the contrary.. The two-time African footballer of the year was said to have been walking the streets of Ibadan barefooted, and suffered delusions. Yekini lived alone in his house, had a few tenants and rarely gets visitors. Since his marriage crashed in 1994, he hasn't remarried but has two children who visit him on holidays. Neighbours at his Oni and Sons Ring Road residence in Ibadan,Oyo State, Nigeria say he's been acting strange for some time now, always seen talking to himself. Sources say sometime late in 2010, Yekini, in the full glare of neighbours, brought out his belongings and allegedly set it on fire.

UN-Backed Court at The Hague: Charles Taylor

This Monday, Aug. 11, 2003 file photo shows former Liberian president Charles Taylor, center, flanked by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, left, and President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, right, as Taylor arrived into exile at Abuja international airport, Nigeria. On Thursday April 26, 2012, judges at an international war crimes passed judgment on warlord-turned-Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is accused of sponsoring rebels responsible for untold atrocities, including abetting murder, rape and the forced enlistment of child soldiers during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war in return for so-called blood diamonds. Taylor had been on trial at the UN-backed court in The Hague for almost five years. The historic verdicts at the Special Court for Sierra Leone will mark the first time an international tribunal has reached judgment in the trial of a former head of state since judges in Nuremberg convicted Karl Doenitz, a naval officer who briefly led Germany after Adolf Hitler's suicide. This week the United Nation Special court in The Hague, Netherlands convicted Taylor of war crimes against humanity and would serve 80-years in prison. Image: George Osodi/AP

Memorable Images And Time (West African Leaders)

Jacqueline Kennedy chats with Mrs. Houphouet-Boigny (right) as they pose for photographers prior to a state dinner given by President and Mrs. Houphouet-Boigny of the Ivory Coast in honor of the Chief Executive and Mrs. Kennedy here tonight.Date: May 24, 1962. Location: Washington, D.C. Image: Bettmann


7/28/1966- Washington, DC: State visitor. President Johnson chats in his office with President Leopold Senghor of Senegal today after the African Chief Executive arrived for a nine-day visit. President Johnson welcomed President Senghor as "the head of a very friendly and vigorous African nation."


President John F. Kennedy greets the first Nigerian Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa at the White House.Date: July 25, 1961. Location: Washington D.C. Image: Bettmann


7/24/1958-Washington, D.C.- Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana shown during his White House visit with President Eisenhower today. He later told newsmen that the President was "sympathetic" to the economic problems of his newly independent African state.

Mali: Junta Agrees To Return Nation To Civilian Rule

Mali's military junta leader, Captain Amadou Sanogo signs documents as the junta and the West African bloc ECOWAS announced a deal that includes the lifting of sanctions and an amnesty for those involved in last month's coup at the Kati military camp, near Bamako, on April 6, 2012.

"Restoring order in Bamako is urgent for Mali and for the world, so the country and its international partners can get on with tackling the crisis in the north, now occupied by Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants. Aid agencies have been forced to suspend operations in the region, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced. Amnesty International said on Friday that northern Mali is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster."


FULL STORY