A man known as naetochukwu01 on X shared how his mother's actions altered his life after she destroyed his travel documents two weeks before his planned trip to Australia for soccer.
Naetochukwu01 posted this on his X handle on Thursday in reply to a post about the father of Nigerian chess master Tunde Onakoya, who initially opposed his son's passion for chess.
In his post, Naetochukwu01 explained that at 15, he was scouted to go to Melbourne, Australia, to play soccer; however, the incident that occurred two weeks before he traveled "altered the path of his life."
He wrote, "I didn't want to talk about it, but it didn't spoil😂. When I was 15, I got scouted to play for a team in Melbourne, Australia. Two weeks before leaving for Melbourne, one fateful Sunday, my mom came home from church and was yelling at me, so I hissed at her, and she became furious (typical African mother).
“Then she started yelling, 'Is it because you want to go abroad now that you are hissing at me? Come and go now, let me see you. I have to tame you before you become untamable.'
He added that in anger, she stormed his room, seized his travel documents, soccer jerseys, boots, and belongings, and set them ablaze in the backyard using kerosene and matches.
He added, "She stormed my room and took my travel documents, my jerseys and boots I had bought in Nigeria, and my boxes.
She took kerosene and matches, went to the backyard, and set everything ablaze. Immediately, she lit the fire and threw it in, her eyes cleared.
“I was only able to recover my international passport. Idk if she regrets it, but my life could have changed for good if not for her anger.
He further stated that his mother later apologized for her actions, but he still acknowledges the impact her actions had on his life.
“I'm not saying this to pile on my Ma or anything, but it changed the trajectory of my life; she has apologized and is still apologizing, and I don't think I love her any less.
“I just hope I win big with something else because the suffering that act has put me through can't be explained,” he concluded.
PUNCH Online reports that the father of Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya, Pa Onakoya, revealed that he was never in support of his son playing chess, stating that he never knew that Chess would make him popular.
Pa Onakoya stated that when Tunde was a child, whenever he saw him playing chess, he would pack everything away because he wanted him to focus on his academics.
