Why I will never encourage my son to visit Nigeria – Taribo West

Former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, says he would never encourage his son to step foot in Nigeria because of the way the country treats its football heroes after death.

Speaking at the burial of late goalkeeper Peter Rufai in a video posted by News Central on Friday, the ex-Inter Milan star lashed out at the Nigeria Football Federation and Lagos State Government for allegedly abandoning Rufai’s family.

“It’s disheartening that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigerian Football Association. They drop the bulk on the family. I felt in my spirit that there is nothing to put your life for. That’s why I say I have to shift back so that I will not implode. It’s grieving.

“My mother passed on. I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands. I never shed tears. When Rufai passed on, I had goose pimples on my body. And every individual I’m speaking to, there were tears rolling down my cheeks. What kind of nation is this?” he said.

West recalled similar neglect of late football icons such as Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, and Thompson Oliha, noting that the consistent disregard for ex-players discourages him from letting his children serve Nigeria through football.

“With this kind of example, I will never advise even my son to put his feet for this country. Send me out! Do we have a Football Federation or do we have a Football Association in this Lagos State? That this hero, this soldier, this football evangelist, has to be treated this way in his family.

“Could you imagine that the family would be crying just to solicit in within our groups to ask for money? That is madness. Look, please let me go. I don’t want to pour my heart,” he stated.

Rufai, fondly called “Dodo Mayana,” was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the country’s debut at the FIFA World Cup that same year. He died in July 2025.