A former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, said he would not advise his son to play for Nigeria.
West made this known on Friday at the burial of late Super Eagles goalkeeper, Peter Rufai on Friday in an interview he granted News Central.
The former Inter Milan defender in the interview which clip has gone viral claimed the Nigeria Football Federation and Lagos State Government abandoned Rufai in the period leading to his death during which he was sick and appeals were being made for support in cash and kind.
“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.
He alleged that similar mistreatment was given to other ex-Internationals who passed away such as Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, and Thompson Oliha, at the point of their health crises.
This, he said made him resolve never to encourage his son to dorn the country’s colour for the national teams.
“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 at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the country’s debut at the FIFA World Cup the same year.
He passed away in July 2025.
