Former Super Eagles defender, Taribo West, has accused the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Lagos State Government of neglecting the family of late goalkeeper Peter Rufai.

Speaking emotionally at Rufai’s burial in Lagos on Friday, in a video posted by News Central, the ex-Inter Milan and AC Milan star expressed frustration over what he described as the abandonment of Nigerian football heroes after their death.

“It’s disheartening that you have Lagos State, you have the Nigerian Football Association. They drop the bulk on the family,” West said.
“I felt in my spirit that there is nothing to put your life for. That’s why I say I have to shift back so that I will not implode. It’s grieving. My mother passed on, I never shed tears. My father passed on in my hands, I never shed tears. When Rufai passed on, I had goose pimples on my body… and there were tears rolling down my cheeks. What kind of nation is this?”

West recalled similar cases of neglect involving the families of late football greats Stephen Keshi, Rashidi Yekini, and Thompson Oliha. He stressed that the repeated pattern of abandonment had discouraged him from urging his own children to serve Nigeria in football.

“With this kind of example, I will never advise even my son to put his feet for this country,” he said.
“Could you imagine that the family would be crying just to solicit within our groups to ask for money? That is madness.”

Peter Rufai, fondly called “Dodo Mayana”, was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper during the Super Eagles’ 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph in Tunisia and the country’s maiden FIFA World Cup appearance the same year.

He passed away in July 2025.

Rufai remains celebrated as one of Nigeria’s greatest goalkeepers, with a career spanning stints in Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, alongside his remarkable contributions to the national team.