…calls on government, NFF to rescue his life
Peter Fregene, remember him? He is one of the greatest goalkeepers Nigeria has ever produced; but today the former Nigerian top-class goal stopper who represented the country at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and Libya ’82 Africa Cup of Nations, is currently living a life of pain, poverty and total neglect from the administrators of the country’s football.
Speaking exclusively to The Point the bedridden ex-international said he is passing through hell and begs for food on daily basis to stay alive.
“I am currently living in Sapele where one of my uncles, Victor Ebughajolo, rented a two-bedroom flat for me and my family. I really want to thank him specially and my friends from Sapele Boys Club who are also helping me.
“Aside the aforementioned, I have been neglected by the Nigeria Football Federation since I had the last surgery in 2009 in Lagos and despite the fact that I served Nigeria well with my God-given talent, I feel I have been used, dumped and left to die in penury.
“I want to call on government and public-spirited individuals to come to my aid,” he began.
Speaking further on the genesis of his ordeal, Fregene who was nicknamed ‘the Flying Cat’ by his colleagues and fans, due to his quality as a goalkeeper went down memory lane.
“It all began in October, 2002, when I was helping one of my cousins who had a similar problem and I remember some people asked why I took responsibility of him, since they perceived him as not being a good man. However, I was ready to help him and it was during the period in which I nursed him, I took him to the bathroom, bathed him and brought him back to the room where he was staying, then the unexpected happened to me.
“I went in to take my bath. But after my bath, I realised I could not come out of the bathroom because my two legs became stiff. Then, I called out to my wife for help, but she initially thought I was joking. But when she saw that I really could not move my legs, she aided me to the sitting room.
“It was from there I was taken to Aragba, a village in Delta, and later moved to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, but its workers were on strike. One Dr. Griffield, who was a consultant at the hospital, took me to his clinic. However, after spending seven months in the clinic, undergoing several scans, I was admitted to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, based on the response to a letter written by my daughter to the Delta State Government, yet my case worsened,” he said with a tinge of regret.
Fregene started his football career in 1956 with Leventis Football Club and later moved to ECN, after winning the Mar Anthony Gold Cup with the Midwest team in the 1960s.
He came into limelight in his professional career when he joined the national team as the first-choice goalkeeper and participated in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and even at the twilight of his career he was Nigeria’s first choice goalkeeper to the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations in Libya.
Fregene further revealed with despair on his sick bed that he suffered a stroke few years ago, but stated how his passion and joy were cut short and replaced with unending pain by the seemingly mysterious sickness.
“I cannot walk, my body is heavy and I cannot even leave the room to see friends. This year is exactly 16 years I have been lying prostrate on the bed. I pass through hell on daily basis but I remain faithful to God that someday my prayer will be heard. I need to walk with my legs again!
“My children are still small because I did not marry on time, but my wife has remained faithful to me and appreciate her for this.
“I made effort for help through Lagos All Stars but I had no response yet from them. I want to beg the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Barrister Solomon Dalung and the administrators from the NFF to come to my aid because I’m dying gradually,” he said with great pain from the tone of his voice.
He however praised former Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, whom he said sponsored his surgical operation for a diagnosed spinal cord injury in 2009, but has remained paralysed from the waist to his feet, and bedridden ever since.
“I cannot remember everything because my condition is degenerating everyday, but help me thank Governor Fashola; he is a good man and has the good spirit and passion for sports. When he heard about my condition, he quickly instructed that I should be taken to Lagos. I was taken straight to Reddington Hospital, located at Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island, where they diagnosed that my spinal cord was broken as a result of a fall I had and I underwent a major operation.
“I was later placed in intensive care in Fashola’s guest house where I was attended to by nurses and physiotherapists, from February to October 2009.
“I was later discharged by one Dr. Aleshinloye, who was the Chief Medical Director then, with many drugs that I could not afford. When I asked them to allow me to thank the Governor for his hospitality, he refused, saying that he would relay the message to him. But Segun Odegbami came with the doctor and gave me N500,000 and that was all,” he stated.
Although Fregene featured in one of the episodes of the Who Wants to be a Millionaire television game show, he only managed to win a N500, 000 prize on compassionate ground, which he said was spent on the payment of huge debts and medical bills.
According to Fregene, he said the family had sold some of their household property just to make ends meet. One of them, an indoor device which was donated by the former Lagos State Governor to aid his rehabilitation and valued at N100,000 was sold at a paltry sum of N15,000.
The Point could categorically state that Fregene’s condition had also subjected his family to a life of hardship and penury as his wife, Tina, goes from house to house in search of food. She also sees parties and social events organised in the neighbourhood as opportunities to beg for food for the family, even as an uninvited guest, a situation she regrets from the depth of her heart!