There is a tradition in Nigerian
football where players are given sobriquets
for one reason or another. Nicknames that
simply reveal the true identity of the
player. Up9ja presents eight Nigerian
footballers with funny nicknames and their
origins. 1. Nwankwo Kanu (Papilo) Kanu is
undoubtedly Nigeria's most famous
footballer who has represented the country
in several national and international
competitions. Some remarkable features on
this former Arsenal striker is his wisdom,
intelligence and gentleness on the field. It
is for these reasons that he was
nicknamed "Papilo" by his friends. 2. Austin
Okocha (Jay Jay) Okocha is the most
enterprising player in the Super Eagles
because of his sense of dribbling, which
earned him an ambassador role with FIFA.
The name Jay Jay was originally attributed
to his brother Emmanuel, a former national
team player, but with time, Austin took over
that nickname. 3. Stephen Keshi (Big
Boss) So far, Stephen Keshi is the captain
with the most incredible leadership
qualities. He was named Big Boss by his
teammates after his appointment as
technical advisor to the team while he was
still a player. The late Keshi was even a
captain in his clubs in Europe. No wonder
he was later selected as the national team
coach. He managed to qualify Togo and
Nigeria for two respective World Cups. 4.
Peter Rufai (Dodo Mayana) Goalkeeper
Peter Rufai was nicknamed Dodo Mayana
in reference to the name of a popular
dancer of Afro Beat King Fela Anikulapo
Kuti. 5. Bright Omokaro (10-10) Nicknamed
10-10 by the commentators, this nickname
originates from an incident that occurred in
the semi-final of the 1988 African Cup. The
Nigeria team had been reduced to 10 after
a red card. When Bright entered the
second half, he was instructed by his
coach, Manfred Hoener, to tactically
release a player from Morocco to restore
the balance, as the opposing team had
already exhausted its three substitutions.
The latter had beautiful and well executed
the advice of his coach. 6. Segun
Odegbami (Mathematical Odegbami) Segun
Odegbami was so good that his well-
calculated speed and dribbling sense were
compared to mathematics. He had
attracted the attention of several people
during the CAN 1980 to the point of being
named best player of the competition. 7.
Teslim Balogun (Thunder Balogun)He was
nicknamed Thunder Balogun thanks to his
punching power. According to reports, he
broke the hands of two goalkeepers while
playing for England and killed another
goalkeeper after he hit the ball on his
stomach. 8. Daniel Amokachi (Taurau)......
www.up9ja.com/2017/09/8-funny-
nicknames-of-famous-nigerian.html
