Ibezito Ogbonna: Adding Value to Kaizer Chiefs FC

He is Nigeria’s latest soccer talent in South Africa. But his wish is to become, in no distant future, one of the best footballers ever to play in that country. Ibezito Ogbonna is his name and he plays for Kaizer Chiefs, one of South Africa’s top flight teams. The 25 year old arrived in South Africa November last year and signed a three year deal with the Johannesburg based outfit. He went to South Africa after a brief stint with a Dubai clubside. Ogbonna had embarked on a training tour with the Dubai team to Switzerland preparatory to his joining the team. But things didn’t work out in the end and so he decided to return to Nigeria.

Interestingly, when he left for South Africa, his intention was to join the Orlando Pirates, another top South African clubside, not Kaizer Chiefs. He had begun talks with the club, but the talks dragged far more than Ogbonna expected and the Pirates were not even willing to pay his fare, a responsibility the player thought the club should bear, particularly if it was interested in signing him.  As luck would have it for him, it was during the stalemate with the Orlando Pirates that Kaizer Chiefs suddenly showed interest and offered the player a flight ticket to South Africa. It was a masterstroke, one that caught Chiefs’ local rivals, Pirates, napping.

Just four months after joining the team, Ogbonna is proving his worth on the pitch. He has scored four goals for Kaizer Chiefs in the South African Premier League, proof of what this Awgu, Enugu State born striker can do. Ogbonna, who is also called “Zito” by admirers, is a prolific goal scorer, as his record in Israel where he started his professional career shows. For three seasons, while playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv, Ogbonna was the highest goal scorer for his club.

The player describes his years in Israel as the best so far in his playing career. “Israel was a place that I really played the best football of my career. I was at Hapoel Tel Aviv for four seasons and had a lot of fans there. There were times I would be walking on the streets and fans of other clubs would come to me and say, ‘Zito, we love you, even though we don’t like your club.’ I made very good impact there and most Nigerians in Israel were really happy because I made them proud.”

From Hapoel Tel Aviv, he moved to CFR-Cluj, a Romanian clubside. His move to Romania was supposed to be a new chapter in a flourishing career. In the beginning, it was all good and bright as the player started to make his mark at the club, which included helping the team to two championship triumphs. But suddenly, things took a dramatic turn. “I sustained an injury. This made me to travel to Italy for treatment where I spent six months.” After the treatment, Ogbonna came back to find that things had changed. “In my absence, the club had signed other players. Even though I had three years contract with the team, I didn’t want to play second fiddle or to sit on the bench, so I decided to go elsewhere. I wanted to start afresh, in a new place where I can showcase my skills and ability and chart a new course.”

South Africa fitted the bill. “I felt that South Africa was the right place to be. I was already familiar with their league and also the fact that the 2010 world cup would be staged here. This means that the world’s attention will focus on South Africa.” His first game for Kaizer Chiefs was against Bidvest Wits and he scored two goals. He was understandably happy. “I was pleased. For a very long time I had been wishing to make a comeback. Although I was not 100 percent fit, I still went into the game and did what I was supposed to do. Though I missed some chances, I scored two goals. It was something I had wished to do for a very long time.”

Given his known goal scoring prowess while in Israel, Ogbonna knows that a lot is expected of him. Since arriving South Africa, many Kaizer Chiefs fans have taken to him and have come to consider him as the man who would deliver the goals and help propel the club to greater heights. Such pressure can frighten some players but Ogbonna says he is equal to the task. “I don’t feel pressure. In fact, I’m more relaxed when there’s pressure, having played top level football before now. I’m aware of the expectations, and I can’t be scared by the challenge,” he says.

By signing for Kaizer Chiefs, Ogbonna has merely followed in the footsteps of the likes of Chukwu Ndukwe, the former Super Eagles star striker, who played for Memelodi Sundowns of South Africa. Ndukwe was a gifted attacker who won the admiration of many before injury reportedly cut short his career. He was once the highest goal scorer in South Africa’s top division and was also voted the footballer of the year. To date, Ndukwe’s performance remains the yardstick by which other Nigerian attackers are judged in South Africa. Ogbonna is aware of this and says he had heard of the player. He wants to emulate him, he says. But, unlike Ndukwe who ended his professional career in South Africa, Ogbonna says he would like to play in an even bigger league, after leaving South Africa. “I’ve heard of him. They told me that Chukwu Ndukwe was a great player, and that he ended his career here, like some other Nigerians. But I don’t wish to end mine here. I just want to give my best and make a mark before I make a move.”

For now, Ogbonna is relishing his time in South Africa and the opportunity to play for a club with a huge following as Kaizer Chiefs, particularly coming after an injury that almost ruined his career.

The injury truly gave him jitters, he admits. “Although the doctor tried his best to assure me I would be okay, I was scared when he told me, before the operation, the process I would have to undergo. At a point, after the surgery, I called my dad and told him that I was not sure if I would be able to play football again, that I was not sure my knee would heal. But along the line, I told myself that ‘you can still do it.’

Although the player is back to playing football again, he reveals that “the doctor told me that I would still feel pain, but it’s something I would have to deal with.” He has had more therapy since arriving South Africa.

Apart from his ambition to contribute to his team’s success, Ogbonna wants an opportunity to play for the Super Eagles. That has always been his dream, he says. “I just wish and pray to God that my stay here would be successful so that I can earn an invitation to the national team. That has been my wish and I look forward to it. I want to play for my country.”

According to the player, his love for the Super Eagles made him shun overtures to take up Israeli citizenship while he was in that country. That would have made him ineligible to play for Nigeria. However, he was once part of Nigeria’s national U-23 team, having been invited to the team that incidentally featured in a tournament that held in South Africa few years ago.

Although an Igbo, Ogbonna was born and raised in the Northern Nigerian town of Sokoto. It was there that he had both his primary and secondary school education. And even though it’s been long since he left the town, he still loves to spend time there anytime he is in Nigeria. His family, just like some of his childhood friends, still lives in Sokoto.

But growing up in Sokoto, Ogbonna says football was not the career he wanted to pursue, even though he loved playing the game. “While I was young and in school, my parents didn’t give me the required support. That was why I didn’t start my career on time,” he says.

His father, now retired, was a mechanical engineer, while his mother is currently a chief nursing officer in Sokoto. Both wanted their son to make his mark in academics. Ogbonna too was keen to make his parents proud in that respect and he had his sights set on becoming a lawyer.

However, while he was still waiting to be admitted into the university, after he graduated from the Army Day Secondary School, Sokoto, he occasionally took to playing football. By that time, he had relocated to Enugu. Then, one day, one man, who was obviously impressed with what he had seen of Ogbonna, approached the young boy and sowed the seeds of a career playing football in his mind. “The man came to me one day and said ‘why are you wasting your talent? You’ve got enough talent. Why not go and look for a club?’

That opened a new chapter in his life. The man later took him to Rangers International FC. But the club had finished recruiting players for that season, and so Ogbonna joined the junior team. It was from there that he travelled to Israel, where he played between 2003 and 2007.

Now, his father seems to regret the fact that he didn’t really support his son’s initial football passion. He’s not the only one. Even “Zito” is surprised at his modest achievements so far. “I never knew I could come this far. Even my dad was like, ‘Zito, if I knew you could come this far, I would have allowed you to take to football.”

But such words merely mask a father’s joy at his son’s achievements. The player is no less happy. He says football has been good to him and his family.

Muhsin Ertugral, Kaizer Chiefs head coach, is happy that Kaizer Chiefs signed the Nigerian. “I’m relieved that we got him. He is the striker that I have always wanted. He has the composure, he is mobile, he runs well into space and he is capable of scoring a lot of goals. He is rapidly getting used to his teammates and I am happy with the way he is responding to my instructions. He is the kind of striker who can cope well in a highly competitive game. I believe we made the right decision in signing him and I think he will succeed at Chiefs because of his strong character and right attitude. He is indeed a top striker and people will see that he will add value here.”