Much have been reported and said about the identity of Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal of London. While some media claimed he was originally a Nigerian from Iragbiji, other said he’s from Igbajo both in Osun State. However, the facts remain that ‘Adebayor’ was born with the name, Emmanuel Seyi Adebayo Adeyi.

•Emmanuel Adebayor Pixs: AYODELE OJO

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Seyi as we used to call him, was born in Kusi, near Kade in the eastern region of Ghana to the late Mr Shedrach Adebayo Adeyi and Mrs Emiola Adeyi. The late Shedrach Adeyi was my uncle, who was brought to Ghana by my father, the late Alhaji Lasisi Raji, and we were living and working together in my father’s house in Kusi, Ghana. He was used to taking me to school and ‘Kokonte’ (Amala) joint in the then diamond extraction town.

My father and ‘brother Shedrach’ were related through my paternal grandmother ties from (Ile Esinja) Esinja compound in Igbaye, two kilometers from Okuku, the headquarters of Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State.

My late father and Seyi's father returned to Nigeria during the expatriate compliance order of Busia regime in Ghana in November 1969. However, Seyi's father left immediately after the overthrow of that government and resettled in Accra, Ghana.

Seyi has a good resemblance of his father, a very dark, tall and handsome man with three vertical Yoruba marks on both cheeks. I could remember that I gave him on demand, my copy of the Nico Nbaga's "Sweet Mother" album when I went to Accra in 1977, then Seyi and his sister, Iyabo, were young.

'Adebayor' made his exploit in Togo when the father took the family to Lome from Accra and was trading in Bureau de change at Lome border with Aflao. His playing career, which started in the primary school in Ghana, manifested in Togo.

His versatility in the round leather game earned him Togolese citizenship and his father became a cynosure of Togolese fans. No wonder he was given a heroic burial when he died in Lome.

I hope this will put to rest the untrue and half true reports on Adebayor's place of origin.

Adieu Brother Shedrach. Seyi is ruling the world with his legs.