Five books for heroes and heroines

Football has always been a unifier. The place we go to shout and cry and jump and lose it for our favourite team. It’s the place where no matter our differences; we simply love each other once our team is winning. We hug each other, pull silly faces, paint our bodies, dance like crazy and […]

Football has always been a unifier. The place we go to shout and cry and jump and lose it for our favourite team. It’s the place where no matter our differences; we simply love each other once our team is winning.

We hug each other, pull silly faces, paint our bodies, dance like crazy and just make the most of it. We can resume our fight once the game is over. It is on the field of play that we deify our football heroes and love them for life. We just adore them. They can live forever in our hearts. When their wives leave them, we turn nasty to their wives even if we have little knowledge of who is at fault. When they score, we can die for them and many have at stadia where tragedies have taken the lives of fans. I have tried to explain in several countries across the world that I do not have personal knowledge of Jay Jay Okocha and have met Kanu Nwankwo only once. By the way this all fell on deaf ears. If I am Nigerian, I should know them. Stuff of movies, stuff of novels, stuff that heroes are made off. This is why it is heartbreaking to see that the Brazilian team Chapecoense who were flying to play a Copa Sudamerica finals match against Atlético Nacional in Medellin had a plane crash and several deaths were recorded. Reports said there were six survivors, including players and a travelling journalist, but police said one person died at the hospital. The plane was carrying 72 passengers and nine crew members.

And heartbreaking it was when news filtered unto our homes across Nigeria that a man decorated in his prime for saving us all from the scourge of the insurgency had lost his life along with some members of his troop by the very monster he was trying to curb- Boko Haram. Lt Colonel Ali, a Battalion commander with several of his soldiers were killed in the course of duty. Shortly after that, Lt. Colonel B.U Umar, Commanding Officer of 114 TF battalion of the Nigerian Army was ambushed by 9:30am alongside his troops between Bita and Piridang. Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Buratai wept. The rest of us mourned with the Army. And then a hero’s burial for all of them.

Heroes and heroines abound in our societies wherever we are. Some die and we feel the searing pain; others are still alive changing the world for the better, showing kindness, being selfless, inventing one thing or the other, sharing food, sharing smiles.

A little boy’s father can be his hero and a girl’s mum, her heroine. This is a special collection to celebrate our Heroes and Heroines.