Isikat Celestine Inokun, is the goalkeeper of Unity Football Club, Benin City. The 21-year-old Akwa Ibom State indigene was recently voted as the best player of a four-team tournament organised by the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ). In this interview, he said his ambition is to be a professional footballer.
You won the best player in a recent tournament, how did this happen?
It was a good one and it gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent as well as what I am capable of as a goalkeeper to the public and sports administration who were there.
Your team won the competition, what was the motivation?
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The matches were all very tough but with determination and hard work, God gave us the victory and we are all happy about it. I am very happy and grateful that we won the competition, but it is not all about winning but also the long-term benefits from the training given to us before the commencement of the tournament.
The organisers enlightened us about corruption, cultism, human trafficking, illegal migration among other social ills that we should not indulge in to progress in life. I will abide by those things they taught us.
How long have you been playing football?
I have been playing football right from my childhood. Before I came to Benin, I played at Ambassador Football Academy, Ikoro-Abasi local government, Akwa Ibom State. When I moved to Edo State, I joined Unity FC in Oredo Local Government Area. I saw a lot of good things in the team, so I decided to join the team and I look forward to the future.
During the final of the tournament, you saved three penalties, how were you able to do that?
Penalty is what I used to win a shirt in my former club in Akwa Ibom. I used to watch football on YouTube to sharpen my skills and what I watched most on YouTube is how to save penalty and that paid off at the tournament because in our first match, I saved two penalties and in the final, I saved three penalties. I give glory to God.
What are your plans for the future?
I am a footballer and I want to be a professional footballer. I also learnt the skill of aluminium work and that has empowered me too. I finished secondary school and I have my paper complete and I want to further my education but my plan is that if I have the opportunity in football, I will continue because my dream is to be a professional footballer.
Though my desire is to be a footballer, I also have to do something else to earn money to sponsor myself. In football today, if you don’t have someone to push you up, it is somehow difficult but I am certain I will succeed at the end.
What is your message to the youth?
I learnt so much from this competition; from the beginning to the end. Before the commencement of the tournament, they talked to us on social ills such as cultism, illegal migration, human trafficking, armed robbery and learning a skill. So, my advice to youths is that in all we do, we should acquire skills and learn to empower ourselves.
We should find happiness in our dreams and work hard to pursue such dreams. For me, I dream to become a professional footballer and I am on the field for that.
