A cross section of football lovers in Malawi have expressed their disappointment with Patricia Jiya Okafor, mother of Chioma Okafor, for allowing her daughter to play for Nigeria instead of Malawi, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
She was born in Malawi to a Malawian mother and a Nigerian father, and started her football career in Malawi and trained with the Malawi national team in 2015 but never featured for the Scorchers.
In February, she shared a video clarifying in Chichewa language that she is Malawian after some fans questioned her nationality because of her name.
According to bolanews.co, the decision of Okafor who won the recently concluded WAFCON to play for Nigeria, after initially showing commitment to represent Nigeria hasn’t gone down well with people in the country.
Her mother who is from Malawi have been largely fingered as the major disappointment in her decision, but she argued in her interview before the WAFCON that it was the sole decision of her daughter.
“It’s not me; it was her choice. Nigeria wrote a letter; I didn’t have any say; it was her choice. I told her to choose so that she would not regret it in the future, so it came from her.”
Okafor didn’t play a single game for Nigeria at the tournament due to injury and tactical issues but she remains upbeat that her chance will definitely come.
“This whole time I knew that I had to stay patient and my time will come. I can’t rush into anything. I have to make sure that I’m going on my time and that everything is going to line up in the way it’s supposed to”, she said upon arrival in Nigeria.
“So I’ll remain patient, my time will come and when it does I’ll make the most out of it.”
Ade Emmanuel
