It’s been an amazing month, one that had a lot of learning moments for me. Doing the Afcon legends series allowed me to delve into the rich history of African football in a way that I’ve never done before. Discovering new players, stories, and life-defining moments in the legends’ lives.

It’s made me appreciate the Afcon tournament a lot more. In the football community, the disrespect people have towards the beloved tournament is shameful, and it suggests that there’s still a long way to go for African football in 2026.

The tournament on social media tends to be reduced to a “comical” event rather than a respected one. I am someone who grew up not paying mind to the competition as it wasn’t talked about in school; however, I’d watch the odd game with my dad, but never really knew the importance.

Going through these stories and the background behind the African legends has opened my eyes even more. The pride they had representing their nation, the responsibility they had to showcase what it means to be an African baller playing in the top European leagues, fighting for the greatest honours, playing without any fear and playing with that freedom.

Afcon Legends have taught me how to represent my country with pride. Following this series, I’m going to make sure I continue my research on not only African football, but African sport as a whole and see the journeys that have yet to come to light in the public eye.

The player that has still stuck with me is Emmanuel Adebayor, the man’s life was filled with trauma, but he continually persisted with the sport he loved, it’s admirable, I’m sure to many.

His story taught me that, regardless of hardship, keeping faith and staying true to yourself will be your driving force throughout your journey. He showed this by having such a successful career playing for multiple top clubs, and then giving back to his continent.

When creating Afcon Legends, I wanted to shed light on a few players who have such great journeys, as I know in the mainstream, they typically only talk about European or South American national players.

I felt the need to stand up as a Nigerian man and talk about players that stand for what my culture truly is, and that Africa truly produces iconic players that can play for any team across all levels of the game.

Growing up in the UK for me was tough. I had very few friends who were of the same culture as me. When people know you’re an African, that’s when the jokes start flying; it doesn’t matter where in Africa you were from, you’d get hit with the same jokes and slurs that kept the whole classroom amused. It was difficult to actually take pride in where I was from, as I thought it was a stain on who I was as a person.

Over time, I matured and properly educated myself. I turned to football because it was something I have always had a passion for. Then, appears on my screen one afternoon, Didier Drogba. To me, he’s my footballing hero, the catalyst to turn my initial fear into my greatest power.

When coming up with the idea of the Afcon Legends series, I knew he had to be the first player I write on, the Ivorian gave me many memorable moments in football that I can never forget. And from writing these stories, I hope they can have an impact on someone the same way Didier Drogba had an impact on me.

Afcon Legends was an idea that stemmed from my childhood traumas, which has bloomed into my ongoing discoveries of my culture.