The reason why my headline reads “still in dire need of help” is because he’s been in this sad situation for long and he’s not really received much support. Learnt about his plight few minutes ago via the twitter post of top TV sports presenter/pundit, Godwin Enakhena.

“Ex Nigeria  star is jobless, lost an eye, kids out of school, can’t feed family. Spent savings on operation”‎. He wrote.

‎For those who don’t know him. Femi Opabunmi  played  for Nigeria at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship, Trindad and Tobago and also played at 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. 
He was the 3rd youngest player to ever play in the World Cup finals after Norman Whiteside and Samuel Eto’o.‎

Read Excerpts from his interview (culled from omojuwa.com) few years back before he lost an eye.‎

“In December 2006, I was training one day when suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my eyes. I could not see the ball again. My vision became blurred and I decided to see an optician. The woman told me that in a few days, I could be blind if I did not have surgery, I went for it and the surgeon said it was a success.”

” The bill was so much that I was forced to contact a few of my friends. Osaze Odemwingie and Seyi Olofinjana responded by sending some money to me. Others did not even reply my mails or called to know how I was feeling.”

“I was expecting to see again but there was no improvement. I visited the doctor and other hospitals in Paris without a solution. They told me that my problem was a complex case that I was too young for such a painful experience”.
Returning home…

“I went to Ojulowo Eye Clinic in Ibadan but I had no money to pay the bill. When Onigbinde heard about my return to Nigeria, he called me and helped me. He paid my bill at Ojulowo but the problem was only solved halfway”.

‎So sad he and his kids are going through this.