Hmm…how honored I am to write a Rashidi Yekini biography, the GREATEST and the BEST striker Nigeria's Super Eagles has ever produced!
Rashidi Yekini is a former Nigeria footballer who was born on the 23rd of October 1963 to Alhaji Yekini and Alahaja Sikiratu Yekini in Kaduna.
He is of Yoruba ancestry, with his hometown located in Ira Offa, Oyun local government area of Kwara state.
Let me now go into Rashidi Yekini's biography properly.
Rashidi Yekini biography
Club Career
Yekini was one of the Nigeria national players who had a European breakthrough in the early 90s, making him one of the torchbearers in the golden age of the Nigeria national team.
Yekini club career first kicked off in the Nigeria Premier League, where he played for teams like shooting stars and Abiola Babes.
He was able to establish himself as a top player, and it didn't take long for him to have his first international signing with Ghana Africa Sports National clinching the powerful striker.
After enjoying success with the Africa Sports National, Yekini got his first taste of European level football after being signed by Portugal side Vitória de Setúbal.
Yekini had his best years as a European player with Setubal and even went on to win the Primeira Liga's top scorer in the 1993/1994 season after netting 21 goals.
He scored a total of 91 goals with the club before being bought by Olympiakos.
At Olympiakos, the language barrier made it quite difficult for him to flow with his teammates and head coach, and just after one season where he had four appearances and scored only two goals, he left the club to ply his trade with La Liga side Sporting Gijon.
He also played for FC Zurich after Gijon.
Yekini'sCareer after Setubal wasn't all that rosy, and he was only able to score a total of 29 goals in 10 years which was low to his 91 goals with Setubal in four years.
At the club level, Yekini netted a total of 164 goals in 253 games.
National Team
Yekini was nothing less than a hero for the Nigeria national team and, being a striker, was the frontline leader of the super eagles' team that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations.
Yekini was an influential figure with the Super Eagles and netted 37 goals in 58 games.
After opening the scoring, he was the scorer of Nigeria's first-ever World Cup goal to begin a 3-0 rout of Bulgaria.
His celebration where he grabbed the net while crying is considered as one of the FIFA world cup's most iconic celebrations.
House And Net Worth
Rashidi Yekini was one of the wealthiest footballers during his time.
The athlete who spent more than two decades of his life playing football would have had more wealth if he had invested his wealth, as his net worth ranges from 1 million to 10 million dollars during his football career.
He had several automobiles and two houses, one of the houses is a twin five-room duplex with a boys quarter of two rooms and two garages located in Oni and sons area in Ibadan.
The other house is a two-story building with four three bedrooms flats and a boys' quarter located at Ijagbo in Kwara state.
He built the house for his mum, and she still lives there to date.
Death And Alleged Family Involvement
Rashidi Yekini died from an extended illness on the 4th of May 2012 at the age of 48.
There have been a lot of controversies surrounding the former Eagles striker's death, including his family's alleged involvement, which was revealed by his lawyer Mohammed Olarenwaju.
The lawyer told Top FM in an interview that the striker when he was ill, asked him to ensure that his family didn't take him anywhere as that would be his end.
He stated that Yekini had told him how his family had unsuccessfully tried to kill him on several occasions.
Olarenwaju stated that following the days before his death, an extremely ill Yekini was forcefully taken by his brother Akeem and sister Rofiattook him to an herbalist (marabou) in the Apete area of Ibadan.
He was reportedly touched with a charm on the head before the herbalist locked him with chains in his herbal home.
It didn't take long before after that incident when Rofiat told him that the striker was dead.
The lawyer also claimed that the sister Rofiat (already dead by the time of the interview) told him that Rashidi Yekini was only given tea in the herbal home.
After siping it twice, he fell asleep, woke up after a few hours gasping for breath.
She claimed to have rushed him to Al-Amin hospital located at Awotan Ibadan, Oyo State, where he died.
Doctor's report stated that he died from a cardiac arrest (heart attack).
Being a Muslim, Yekini was buried immediately in Ira Offa, his hometown in Kwara State.
During his burial, one of his neighbors who didn't want his name mentioned claimed that Rashidi Yekini's problems started after a failed business deal with a partner who owned a Bureau De change business in Sabo area of Ibadan.
He also claimed that Rashidi's automobiles were in dire need of repair, which led to the athlete always trekking around the city.
Wives And Daughters
Rashidi Yekini married three wives as a Muslim.
The wives were Kemi, Adeola, and Bilikisu, and each of them bore him a daughter named Yemisi, Omoyemi, and Damilola.
His first wife Kemi lives with her daughter Yemisi in London, while the second wife Adeola, who had divorced him and spoke at his burial, lived in Osogbo with her daughter Omoyemi.
Rashidi met his third wife Bilikisu in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire and she still resides there with her daughter Damilola.
Yemisi, the first daughter of Rashidi Yekini, is a London-based chief executive officer of Oj's kitchen, a restaurant that specializes in African delicacies.
She is a graduate of Dumonforte University Leicester City, United Kingdom, where she graduated as the second overall best student in cinematography.
The second daughter Imoyemi studied English and graduated from the University of Ilorin, while the third daughter Damilola lives and school in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire with the mother.
Mother And Family
Rashidi Yekini is survived by his mother Alhaja Sikiratu Yekini, and three siblings; Akeem Yekini, Ismaila Yekini, and sister Rofiat Yekini.
His aged mother still lives at Ijagbo, which is in the Oyun local government area of Kwara State.
His sister Rofiat Yekini died in 2014 in an auto crash as the 18 seater vehicle she boarded while returning from a business trip collided with a lorry along Okuku Oshogbo road.
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The brother Akeem Yekini died in 2018 after he complained of body pain and malaria. Ismaila Yekini is the only surviving sibling of the late Rashidi Yekini, who lives in Kaduna.
This article was most recently revised and updated 4 years ago
