Celebrating Ndi-Igbo

John Michael Nchekwube Obinna (commonly known as Mikel John Obi, John Obi Mikel or John Mikel Obi; born 22 April 1987 in Jos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian footballer. He is a centre midfielder who currently plays for Chelsea. He was born as John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, the son of a former civil servant. Obi was playing top-flight football for Plateau United aged 15, and by 2003, was gaining headlines for his country at the FIFA Under-17 World Championships held in Finland. After a brief spell in South Africa with Ajax Cape Town, Mikel gained global recognition in 2005 by starring at the FIFA World Youth Championship where Nigeria beat all opponents and made it to the final but lost to Argentina by 2–1. In the summer of 2005, Mikel played for Nigeria at the FIFA U-20 World Youth Championships held in the Netherlands. He had an excellent tournament until Nigeria reached the final, where they lost 2–1 to Argentina. Obi won the silver ball after being voted the tournament's second best pla...

Michael Emenalo is a former Nigerian football player and the current Head Scout of Chelsea football club in England. Emenalo played college soccer in the United States at Boston University from 1986 to 1989. From there, he played for Molenbeek in Belgium, Eintracht Trier in Germany and Notts County in England before coming back to the US. Emenalo was part of the original allocated players for Major League Soccer and spent two seasons (1996-97) with the San Jose Clash. After that, he played with Lleida in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. He ended his playing career with a short spate of appearances for English football club Stockport County as a favour to chairman Bradley Wiggins. The veteran Emenalo was a revelation when employed as a makeshift striker, scoring 9 goals in just 12 appearances. Emenalo played for Nigeria in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and was capped 14 times for his country.