“Bro, guess what… I have lived to see the first time electric light showed in our village…as I am talking to you now, the joy and celebration is massive in the entire village as NEPA brought light few seconds ago… football has given us light through Onuachu”
This was an excerpt from a telephone conversation between two excited brothers whose community got electrified for the first time in history by Mr. Paul Onuachu. Onuachu is a 26 years old Imo State born football player. He hails from Umuota Agbaghara Nsu, a village in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state. Currently, Onuachu plays for both the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Genk FC of Belgium. As at the time of writing this article, he holds the record of scoring the top fastest goal in Nigeria’s international football history and the fourth fastest goal in the history of international football in the world, when he scored within 9 seconds of Nigeria’s clash with Egypt on the 26th of March, 2019. This sole goal of his that gave the Super Eagles of Nigeria victory over Muhammed Salah’s Pharaohs of Egypt broke the record of Nigeria’s inability to win Egypt for a long time of about thirty years. Furthermore, as at the time of writing this article, he tops Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and other footballers as the highest goal scorers in the 2020/21 football season in the Europe’s top leagues.
Onuachu, in August, 2019 decided to make an epochal move that changed the face and fortunes of his community. Like Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Sadio Mane of Senegal, Marcus Rashford of England, Ahmed Musa of Nigeria, Didier Drogba of Cote d’Ivoire, George Weah of Liberia, Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria and other professional footballers who are involved in community and social works in different parts of the world, Onuachu directed the community leaders of Umuota Agbaghara Nsu to forward him the cost of electrifying the community. Within days of this call, crop of electrical engineers were shipped in as work commenced earnestly until the Covid-19 pandemic cause a total lockdown. With the relaxation of the Lockdown, work was completed such that by Tuesday, December 22, 2020, the village was agog when electric light was seen for the first time in the history of the community. Thanks to the young philanthropic footballer, Paul Onuachu.
Written by Anyanwu Timothy Chibuike, From History and Strategic Studies Department, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike, Ebonyi State.
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