Seven months after Saturday PUNCH reported the story of an Under-17 striker, Mbetobong Ibanga, who moved back to his hometown, Calabar, Cross River State, as a result of a knee injury, where he worked as a butcher, the state government and other individuals rallied around him and have given him a fresh start, GODFREY GEORGE writes
Hopes are high again for Mbetobong Ibanga. Although his dreams of becoming a pro footballer may no longer be realisable as a result of his age and knee injury, he will no longer work as a butcher in Calabar, Cross Rivers State.
Seven months ago, when Saturday PUNCH reporter met him in a Calabar market, he was forlorn, almost helpless. The story today has changed.
He told our reporter that after this newspaper’s story of May 6, titled, ‘From U-17 striker to butcher: How NFF paid player $100 after a life-changing injury,’ his life had now changed for the better.
Hours after the story was published, he received several calls from some of his former football colleagues who rendered financial support to him and his ailing mother.
After his failed attempt at the 2011 African U-17 Championship organised by the Confederation of African Football in Rwanda, he was told he had just five years to play football.
Having lost his father in 2006, his family went from an average one to one that begged to eat.
This pushed him hard to make sure he improved. However, luck did not shine on him. He had to stop football altogether to save his knee.
On getting to Calabar, Ibanga became a butcher and sold plastics at the popular Calabar Market to make sure he supported his ailing mother, sister, and his education at the University of Calabar.
This was when our reporter met him in Cross River and he told his story of despair and hopes for a better future.
From butcher to football coach
“I went from playing for the national team to being a butcher. But, after PUNCH’s report, I am now a coach. I now coach schoolchildren with the support of the Cross River State Government and other politicians who read my story in Saturday PUNCH,” he told our reporter in a video chat wearing a wide smile.
When asked what he wanted to do since he could no longer go pro, he said he decided to start the Hope Regeneration Outreach, a secondary school football training centre. The motto, according to him, is ‘Impacting lives through sports’.
Speaking of how far he has come since the report, he said, “Football really helped my life. If it was not for football, I don’t know where I would have been today.
“It gave me good things even if I didn’t fulfill my dream of getting to the big stage.
“Football has touched my life in many ways, good manners, made me focus and purposeful, sportsmanship spirit, shunning cultism and social vices. I seek also to pass these messages to children, teens, and youth.
“Right now, I have 26 children in the training centre. There are kids around my street who come every evening for tutorials on how to play football.
“The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs in the state, Dr Helen Isamoh, and other reps from the state’s ministry of sports have really been helpful to me.”
‘I never believed I would graduate’
Several kind individuals, including the Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL, Prof Florence Obi, and the Head of the Department of History, Ibanga said, assisted him both financially and morally to make sure he never dropped out as a result of his financial situation.
“When my VC read the report, she invited me to the office and we had a long conversation. She promised to help me and she did. My HOD and several other lecturers of the Department of History and International Studies, where I graduated, also made sure I never lacked anything. It wouldn’t have been possible if PUNCH had not intervened. Now, I have access to the high and mighty and I thank PUNCH for that.
“I have met with the governor of the state, Senator Bassey Otu; Commissioner of Sports, Agnes Atsu; Commissioner for Youth, Odum Ijom; HOD of History, Ekwutosi Offiong, and the senator representing Cross River Southern Senatorial District, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, and they have all been instrumental to my progress. I owe PUNCH and its readers this gratitude,” he added.
