Victor Osimhen, who was recently named CAF African Footballer of the Year, came from a lowly background in Olusosun, a neighbourhood in Lagos known for its health risks and dumpsite. His remarkable performances helped him rise to the top of the game, making his story one of football’s Cinderella tales, according to ABIODUN ADEWALE.
Just past the 7up Bus Stop at Oregun, a mountainous dumpsite on the right side confronts drivers entering Lagos from the Lagos-Ibadan motorway.
Nothing indicates that there is a community or town within the dumpsite other than the landfill.
It’s the 100-acre Olusosun dumpsite, which is situated near Oregun along the Kudirat Abiola Way and is the largest dumpsite in Africa.
Up to 10,000 tonnes of trash are delivered to Olusosun every day, much of it technological rubbish from container ships. Chemicals seep into the earth and toxic odours are emitted from the location.
Still, there are almost a thousand houses close to the location. Some of the locals scrape by by gathering scraps from the landfill and doing what they can in terms of sorting, burning, and recycling.
The Olusosun landfill was initially situated on the outskirts because to health concerns when it was constructed in the 1950s, but due to Lagos’s rapid urban growth, residential, commercial, and industrial structures have since sprouted up all around the dump.
Victor Osimhen, the most recent CAF Player of the Year, was born and raised in one of the homes in the Olusosun neighbourhood.
Football fans all around the world are familiar with Osimhen, the striker for Napoli, and his humble beginnings. Born to impoverished parents, Osimhen never shied away from sharing his hardships throughout his early years.
Other than being referred to as an eyesore or dumpsite, Olusosun, the community where the striker was born on December 29, 1998, has gained a lot of popularity for the right reasons since he first gained notoriety in 2015, when his record-breaking 10 goals helped Nigeria win their fifth FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
Osimhen is adored, revered as a hero, and loved in Olusosun.
Even though the famous football player no longer resides there, Olusosun comes to life every time he scores or wins a trophy. In the previous eight years, he has won eight awards, the most recent of which was African Player of the Year, which he won in Marrakesh, Morocco on December 11 and which made him the first Nigerian to win since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.
Back home, the community celebrated its golden son, who had consistently turned adversity into opportunity during his ascent to the top of the world football rankings, by refusing to sleep.
It wasn’t hard to find the Super Eagles striker’s former home, even though the road narrowed when our correspondent visited the community on Tuesday, December 12 — the morning after Osimhen’s CAF award. People easily described the narrow pathway and sharp bends that led to Anisere Street.
Congratulatory banners from his Scudetto victory with Napoli last season still lined the street a few metres from the house.
After Osimhen’s CAF award, the kids in the neighbourhood must have had a rough night because one of his boyhood pals, Adesoye Adeyemi, appeared to be suffering from a hangover.
Adeyemi said in a hazy voice, “It was a night to remember for everyone; we did not sleep until about 2am.”
He was placed eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or prior to winning the CAF POTY, so it gave him some confidence. His friends back home always knew he was going to prevail.
We have been anticipating that he will be the top player in Africa, so I was never in question. Thus, everyone was excited to see the ceremony,” Fatai Bello, who resides across from Osimhen’s former residence, added to our correspondent.
Without a question, Olusosun’s most visited location these days is Osimhen’s former home. The striker’s 1998 birthplace, a one-story building, has grown to become a tourist attraction, much to the delight of his landlord Jamiu Sanni, who also serves as the chairman of the Olusosun Council Development Area.
“When he was last at home, he was upstairs in my living room, and the entire community came out to see him.” Here, he is liked,” Sanni remarked.
“Because Osimhen was born and raised in my father’s home, I always boast that he is my son wherever I go. Additionally, he is everyone in this community’s brother and son.
Osimhen’s impoverished family could only afford to live in the well-known landfill, which was notorious for its frequent fires, strong smoke, and bad odour.
The youngest of seven siblings was thrust into a world of uncertainty when he and his siblings were little since their mother had died and their father had lost his job.
His family was constantly threatened by poverty, insecurity, and the looming threat of being evicted by the Lagos State Government.
He persevered, much like his never-say-die mentality on the game.
He played football on the streets of his area and joined the Ultimate Strikers Academy youth team while selling sachet water on the always congested roadways of Lagos.
“I come from a place where a lot of dreams have died, but no matter what, I’m the kind of person who never gives up.” I had no choice but to go out and start a life for myself,” Osimhen remarked.
The Osimhen family’s difficulties were related by a former neighbour, who went by the name Abosede.
“They lived hand to mouth and Victor’s mother was a cleaner before she passed away,” Abosede stated. She was a really kind woman, though, and made sure at the end of each month to pay off whatever bills she had accrued from using credit to purchase groceries. Osimhen and his siblings occasionally begged for food by peddling sachet or table water in Ojota traffic.
Sanni, the footballer’s former landlady, also revealed how difficult it was for the family to make ends meet.
“I knew his father wanted him to attend school at any costs when they were living here. Even after his mother passed away, he continued to play football. They were having so much trouble that they were even having problems making ends meet, according to Sanni.
But Osimhen was so modest that he did most of our errands. Osimhen also performed tasks for Mama Chichi, another vendor who sells food, such as assisting her in carrying her goods and cutting the shafts out of the beans,” the vendor continued.
