The Nigerian football community has been rocked by another tragedy following the death of one its finest managers, Kelechi Emeteole.
Emeteole, 66, passed away on Wednesday morning in India where he was being treated for cancer of the throat.
He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015, a condition which deteriorated till his death.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard in March 2017, Emeteole’s wife, Phoebe, said, ““By January 16, 2016, the problem was persistent and we went to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri (FMCO) in February, for medical attention. They asked their usual questions, took the medical history and did some examinations. The doctor said that there was a growth in his voice box. They also told us that they needed to do a biopsy to ascertain the type of growth that was seen in the voice box.
“The biopsy was carried out. The doctors looked at the result of the biopsy and blamed it on infection. They prescribed drugs for the suspected infection and my husband religiously took the medication, but he never got better. “We went back to FMCO in June 2016. They checked again and still returned a diagnosis of infection. Hoping that the FMCO doctors were right, we relaxed, but in October 2016, he started finding it very difficult to breathe.
“This situation alarmed us and we went to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH. It was here that they discovered that the strange tumour had blocked his wind pipe. The doctors did a tracheotomy. They also wanted to carry out another biopsy but found that he now has a heart condition. This prevented the doctors from going on with the planned biopsy.
“We stayed over a month in LUTH before a concerned citizen told us of a certain medical Professor in Enugu that could successfully manoeuvre his way and carry out the biopsy. We left LUTH for Enugu, where the biopsy was carried out. The result was that the growth had become malignant and eaten deeply into the tissues.
“With this latest finding, we started making inquiries about where we can get the best medical attention. We have identified and contacted a hospital in India and they have told us that the treatment will gulp $11,000, excluding air fare, feeding, accommodation and local runs.”
It was gathered that some well-meaning Nigerians, including Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo, helped raised fund for his surgery in the Asian nation.
Sources close to the deceased indicate that he had not undergone the surgery that took him to India because the doctors were still observing his body condition to make sure that it was ready for the procedure.
His sad demise opens a horrible can of worms which has seen the country’s brightest coaches sadly pass away in their peak.
Two ex-Golden Eaglets coaches, Musa Abdullahi and Willy Bazuaye began the shocking trend in 2015.
Before Stephen Keshi and Shuaibu Amodu followed suit a year later.
Fondly called Caterpillar, Kelechi Emeteole won 17 international caps for the then Green Eagles of Nigeria, playing at the 1976 Africa Nations Cup in Ethiopia where the country finished third.
He then progressed into management serving as assistant of all the national teams, including the coaching crew to the U17 World Cups in China (1985) and Canada (1987).
Emeteole is fondly remembered during his stints in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), where he managed Enugu Rangers, Heartland FC and El Kanemi Warriors.
