OBINNA THE SUCCESSFUL FOOTBALLER

ENCOUNTER WITH THE FOOTBALL SCOUT

Obinna was later discharged from the hospital after two days as he still recovering from shock and bruise wounds, the deadline date for the screening registration has gone, his failure in registering pained him so much, he began praying, begging God to remove the spirit of failure in his life and replace it with huge success. He went and visits his pastor as he learnt that he is back from the crusade, he narrated everything to the pastor; the pastor told him that God knows why he allowed everything to happen in that manner, he went on to tell Obinna that the disappointment can be a huge blessing to him.

At a Church Crusade that Obinna attended in the town, the invited Evangelist that graced the program was preaching when he suddenly started prophesying “someone here is about to be hugely favoured by the Living God, someone here is about to travel to the white men’s country to play great and professional football, My Living God has promised to make him great”. Immediately Obinna heard of the prophecies, his heart leaped a bit, he was convinced that the prophecy was for him, he claimed it in the name of Jesus Christ, and believed that God is about to favour him.

The two day's Crusade ended by 12.am in the midnight, many people started going home that night, while some that came from far distant decides to stay till morning before going home, Obinna stayed back because his area was far from the crusade ground. Very early that morning, at around 4.am, he started going home, on his way home, he heard a faint voice of a deeply depressed man, with a different accent shouting in a low tone for help, he quickly rush to the direction and saw the man, he couldn’t see the face of the man clearly as there was no much daylight, the man was soaked in blood, he has been brutalized by hoodlums; it happens to be that the man was a football scout from Scotland, he came down to Nigeria in search of young talented and skilful footballers to recruit for Strattberg FC, the newly promoted club in the 2nd division of the Scottish League, the man by name, Mr. Smith Glerg, was with two briefcases, one, containing Three million Euros, and second containing his paper works and other important documents, the armed robbers that attacked him requested for the briefcase, he was clever and sharp in swapping the two briefcase, he quickly hid the one containing the cash under the passenger’s seat and then gave them the one containing the document, when the robbers opened the case, they were furious and angry, they started beating him, later, they collected the sum of One hundred and fifty thousand naira that he had earlier converted to local currency, his I-Pad, and expensive wrist-watch. Obinna was really sorry for the man, he carried him into the car, the man was lucky that Obinna has learned how to drive, because he would have died from excessive bleeding; Obinna drove him to a nearby hospital, he narrated everything to the nurse on duty and promise to come back in the afternoon.

When Mr. Smith regain consciousness, he was surprise to find himself in the hospital, he recall back and remember that he was attacked by some robbers, he enquired from the nurse on how he got there, they told him that a boy brought him in the early hours, after he was found half dead at the roadside, they also told him that the boy has promised to visit again later.

Obinna later came back to the hospital in the Afternoon, when he arrived, he was happy to see the man awake and recovering. Mr. Smith was the first to speak “young man, were you the one that brought me here”, Obinna answered “yes sir, I saw you in deep pain lying at the roadside with blood all over your body, I decided to bring you to the hospital”. Mr. Smith exchanged pleasantries with Obinna, they discussed a lot, and he asked Obinna about his Education, Obinna told him that he has completed his Secondary School Education with good grades, but couldn’t forge ahead because of sponsorers and financial issues. Mr. Smith also asks “apart from school, what other activities are you engaged in?” Obinna told him that he plays local football with the local club in the locality, Mr. Smith was very happy to hear that, he ask “would you like to play football as a profession and also being paid?”, Obinna quickly answered “yes sir, these has been my dream from childhood, I will be happy if I got the opportunity to do so”, then Mr. Smith told him about his mission in Nigeria, he said “that means, you are my first recruit in Nigeria, I need more nine players”, Obinna could not believe his ears, he was like fainting, he couldn’t hide his happiness and joy, he thanked him wholeheartedly, but Mr. Smith said “no need to thank me, you saved my life, you deserves more reward, am the one to thank you”.

Before Obinna left the hospital, Mr. Smith collected his home address and also gave him Hundred thousand naira; Obinna thanked him unstoppable and ran home happily to meet his parent. He narrated the incident to them, they were very happy, especially for the pending contract and then the money. Obinna met the pastor and narrated everything to him; the pastor told him that the Living God is already fulfilling his promises in his life.