Super Eagles star Wilfred Ndidi has opened up on how he started his life on the streets of Lagos hawking groundnuts and doing other menial jobs to survive. The Leicester City defensive midfielder has made a name for himself in the senior national team since Gernot Rohr became Super Eagles coach. The 22-year-old who is a member of the Nigerian squad that will play at the World Cup spoke on his humble beginnings in the hustle and bustle life in the city of Lagos.
“I sold different kind of goods, from pepper to tomatoes but I was actually really known for selling groundnuts and I got the name omo elepa (the groundnut seller),” he told ESPN. Continuing, he said: “Sometimes when I finish selling, I’ll go do a quick one for myself to make my own money, like wiping the the glass of cars and if I see I’m not making anything, I’ll go buy pure water (sachet water) to sell. The highest I’ve made was N3,000 and I finished selling so quick and went to do the glass cleaning. I was so happy because I was saving money to buy my football shoes.”
The former Genk star was the best tackler in the 2017/18 Premier League season and his performance has caught the eye of big clubs including Liverpool and Manchester United. Though Ndidi got injured few weeks to the end of the Premier League season but has fully recovered in time to make Rohr’s 23-man list for the World Cup.