 and the Lagos State Government for allegedly){kind=link}
Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West has criticised the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Lagos State Government for allegedly abandoning the family of late Nigerian goalkeeper, Peter Rufai.
Speaking at Rufai’s burial in a video posted by News Central on Friday, the ex-Inter Milan centre-back expressed disappointment over what he described as the neglect of Nigerian football legends after their passing.
“It’s disheartening that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigerian Football Association. They drop the bulk on the family. I felt in my spirit there is nothing to put your life for. It’s grieving,” West said emotionally.
The former international, visibly shaken, recalled shedding tears at Rufai’s death despite never doing so at the loss of his own parents.
“My mother passed on, I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands, I never shed tears. When Rufai passed on, I had goose pimples. Tears rolled down my cheeks. What kind of nation is this?”
West also drew parallels with the treatment of other late football icons such as Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, and Thompson Oliha, stressing that the lack of support discouraged him from advising his children to serve Nigeria through football.
“Could you imagine that the family would be crying just to solicit within our groups to ask for money? That is madness,” he lamented.
Rufai, popularly known as “Dodo Mayana,” was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper during the Super Eagles’ 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and the country’s maiden FIFA World Cup appearance the same year. He died in July 2025.