Victor James Osimhen. Football star, Edo born, Lagos brought up, now plying his trade in Europe. He trended last week for his on-field bust-up with his Super Eagles teammate, Ademola Lookman. During Nigeria’s Monday night last-16 match against Mozambique in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, Osimhen went bestial. Showed irrational aggression towards Lookman whom, in his judgment, refused to pass the ball to him to score. Had he scored, it could have been a hat-trick of goals for the Galatasaray striker. Let’s get the picture clear. Lookman provided the assists for Osimhen’s two previous goals on the night.

And for failing to pass the ball to almighty Osimhen, Lookman got a huge part of Osimhen’s waspy tongue. Osimhen’s primitive aggression was watched globally. It featured in reports in New York Times, ESPN and other global media. In all the reports, he got no commendation, only rebuke, censure and reprimand fit for a monster on the props of idiocy. Remember, Osimhen is Super Eagles vice-captain, meaning he’s part of the leadership.

Let’s even assume that Lookman was selfish and failed to pass the ball to a better positioned Osimhen, a behavioural trait among strikers including Osimhen, was that enough for Osimhen to talk down on Lookman? Was that enough to rage in a fit of on-field madness towards Lookman, brushing aside his captain, Wilfred Ndidi, who tried to rein him in and pull him back from the brink of global odium? The world watched volcanic Osimhen erupting and emitting toxic lava and ash on his teammates. A shocked Mozambique defender, Reinildo Mandava, had to physically intervene, throwing himself between a viciously wild Osimhen and a calm, level-headed Lookman. Calvin Bassey also tried to play the peace-maker role. Osimhen disrespected all of them and was still foaming out hot lava.  I have watched that 65^th minute frenzy several times and on each occasion, I find no justification for Osimhen’s nastiness and utter disrespect for his teammates and coaching staff. He even signalled the bench to substitute him. And he got his wish, though not immediately, which was smart of Coach Eric Chelle.

But Osimhen was lucky on the night. He deserved a yellow card for his tantrum and lack of fair play. Yes, a player can be penalized for foul words or act of aggression even when it was towards his teammate. Referee Abdou Mefire, the Cameroonian and youngest referee at AFCON at just 29, was lenient.

Credit to Coach Chelle and Osimhen’s teammates especially Ndidi and Lookman, who doused the fire by protecting Osimhen, calling his action nothing but football. They showed maturity at a time Osimhen showed banality. But Osimhen deserves a private rebuke by Chelle. He is not bigger than the team and has no right, power or privilege to disrespect any teammate. Lookman is a Europa Cup Champion, a history-maker who scored a historic hattrick at a Europa League Cup final. Osimhen is yet to achieve this.

And let this sink. Lookman’s hattrick placed him on the 2024 Ballon d’Or shortlist of 30 players, the only African player on that list. The humility of any footballer should never be mistaken for dumbness. Lookman is a terrific footballer with more global accolades than Osimhen. So, why the village headmaster role and rule over Lookman? Sticking out his finger to Lookman’s face and ranting down on him isn’t passion for football; it’s plain primeval outburst.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a fan of both players. A huge fan of Osimhen’s attacking instinct, but not a fan of his vile manners; the type he displayed towards his former coach and boss, Finidi George, a far more accomplished player than Osimhen. Finidi in his heyday at Ajax was a Champions League winner (1995) and was ranked the Best Right Winger (No.7) in the world in a Gillette ranking. He was a worthy African Ambassador. Only eight Nigerian players have won European honours (Champions League and Europa), Osimhen is not on that list. He should stay humble. He could still have communicated his frustration to Lookman politely, on and off the pitch.

Those who came out to defend Osimhen’s intemperate behaviour do him no good. It’s a hypocritical massage on the veins of a young man on a self-destructive ego voyage. The advice should never be ‘ride on’; it should be ‘get off your high horse and clothe yourself with the garment of humility.’

But no matter, Osimhen is a great player. He’s still the King of Naples, Italy’s third largest city; birthplace of pizza. The earth bears testimony that out of Africa, has risen a unicorn, an icon, a soccer whizz who was crowned African Footballer of the Year 2023, the most coveted individual crown on the continent for footballers.

Standing at 1.85 metres, lanky and leggy, Osimhen won the Italian league (Scudetto) for Napoli football club in May 2023. It was a re-creation of a distant past. The club had won it twice in the past. But it was donkey’s years ago, a good 33 years ago when an Argentine, Diego Armando Maradona, helped the club to win the Scudetto. For that feat, Maradona became a deity in Naples. After pizza, Maradona comes next. He was idolised, immortalised. A god, he became. A monument he morphed into.

In 2023, the story changed. A new King of Naples stepped forth: Osimhen. A former Lagos street hawker; a near-destitute, almost homeless at infancy. Shorn of the pleasure of childhood; burdened by the brunt of poverty. A young lad abused, despised. Abused by poverty, by the elements, by the perils of uncertainty. Almost stigmatised on account of his skinny, gaunt gait. Osimhen knew poverty. He wore it like a coat of many colours. Poverty has many grades, different shades. Osimhen’s poverty quotient in his teenage years was of the Alpha grade. Poverty on props. Even the poor called him poor.

It took an Under-17 football trial in Abuja in 2014 to flip his story from grass to grace. From then on, the Olusosun Boy graced European football and made his mark. The imprints of poverty left him. The bold prints of opulence embroidered him. This is why I love Osimhen. He never gave up. Grace encased him. The more reason he should stay humble. Win or lose the 2025 AFCON, Osimhen remains a great player. But he must trim his ego and learn to respect those around him. This, also, is a trophy!