Former WAFU President and member of the Nigeria Football Association Chief Jonathan Ogufere has described Rashidi Yekini’s “exploits as yet unmatched in the annals of Nigeria Football….”

Chief Ogufere, President of Association of Sports Veterans, Nigeria was speaking in Lagos in reaction to the passing away of one of Nigeria’s greatest footballers.

Chief Ogufere said “ ……Yekini scored 41 goals in his career, 13 of them in the Africa Cup of Nations, making him the second highest goalscorer only to Ivorien Laurent Pokou who holds the record of 14.

“ We remember that he emerged in the National scene in the 1990 Africa Cup of Nations in Algiers under Clemens Westerhoff, where he was the saving grace as we progressed from the 5-0 thumping in the opening match against the host Algeria to qualify for the final and this continued till 1994 when we won the Nations Cup in Tunisia and he was not only crowned the highest goalscorer but was also voted the African Footballer for that year.

“Yekini went further to score Nigeria’s first ever World Cup goal in that historic win against Bulgaria in the USA in 1994.”

Chief Ogufere also traced the history of the departed star from his humble beginning in Cote D’ivoire with Africa Sports to Europe especially Vitoria Setubal in Portugal where he is a cult hero presently.

“ We the sports veterans mourn this great star and commiserate with the family, the Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigeria football