- Mikel John Obi, the former Nigerian football star, has stirred up controversy with his views on family entitlement.
- In a recent discussion with Rio Ferdinand, the former captain of the Super Eagles voiced his concerns about African family members asserting a claim to his finances.
- According to the him, they believe his money is theirs by default, grounded in the perception that he is indebted to them.
Nigerian football sensation Mikel John Obi is causing a stir on social media for putting entitled family members on blast during a candid conversation with football extraordinaire Rio Ferdinand.
The former Super Eagles captain didn’t pull any punches, airing his grievances about the widespread African custom where his kinfolk feel they’ve hit the jackpot with his wallet.
Obi spilled the tea, revealing that when an African rakes in the cash, suddenly cousins and relatives line up with wish lists.
He said his sisters hitch a ride on his fame train, marrying dudes who think they’ve hit the jackpot by just being part of Mikel John Obi’s family. The football maestro pointed out that these newfound family members pop out kids like it’s a competition, all while expecting him to foot the bill.
Mikel Obi highlighted that in the eyes of these distant relatives, there’s a deep-seated belief that he’s in debt to them for his fortune. When he declines their requests, they crank it up a notch, tossing threats about going public with the press. The footballer underscored that this scenario is all too common in Africa.
In his words:
“When you come from Africa, when you make money, it’s not your money. You have all these relatives, cousins, and your sisters go off and get married to some guy who just wants to get married into Mikel John Obi’s family because his life is sorted, and then you start looking after this guy and before you know it… they keep having so many kids and you look at it like ‘okay you’re having this much kids, who’s going to look after them?’ It’s you! It’s the culture because for them you owe them that so sometimes you have to be strong and say ‘you know what guys, enough is enough, I don’t care’.
“They give you this thing whereby ‘if you don’t do it, we’re going to go to the press’. After all I’ve done for you guys? But this happens a lot in Africa. Not everybody comes out and speaks about it.”
WATCH HIM SPEAK BELOW