COMMENTARY

Tunde Oyedoyin
[email protected]
London, UK

The night Kanu made a fresh commitment to keep young peoples hearts ticking

he way Nwankwo Kanu made a fresh commitment to keep the hearts of young men and women ticking at the London Hilton Metropole Hotel a couple of weeks ago was quite different from the way a man's heart ticks when his wife is in the labour room, the latter is usually not a normal ticking, especially if the baby is not forthcoming on time or there is an impending danger. I remember the way my own pumping station was ticking when my wife was there and i was about making a smooth transition from a husband to a father, oh what a night.� Young peoples' heart need to be kept ticking. Mine was rapidly ticking because there was not much progress in the natural. The midwives kept saying they could see the baby's head yet, we remained on the same spot for about two hours.

To make things worse, two quick combination punches caught me on the lower ribs as i tried to encourage her to muster enough strength for a strong push. The jabs really hurt me, the midwives at Homerton Hospital knew better, never stay too close to a woman in labour, you may get hurt and you may not even witness the delivery if your wife or partner packs some power behind her arms.. After receiving theirs, the three of them stepped backwards and it was in the process of playing a brave husband that she caught me in quick succession. I don't know if i would have survived a mandatory count of 10, but I managed to get up somehow. I reacted positively by demanding to know why the consultant wasn't coming on time as we were told. My heart's ticking returned to normal when the baby came forth within a couple of minutes afterwards.

Events for that night were set in motion earlier in the afternoon when Kanu was part of the Gunners line up that handed a 2-1 defeat to their North London rivals, Tottenham, at Higbury.After going through the registration rituals and about 60 minutes of having the pre-dinner drinks, the comperes for the evening, (Richie Dayo Johnson, Brenda Emmanus, Simon Marks and Henry Bonsu) took us through memory lane by narrating the story behind Kanu Nwankwo Heart Foundation(KNHF). The Foundation was set up after the Founder himself, Nwankwo Kanu, underwent a life threatening heart surgery to correct a weak aorta valve at Cleveland Hospital USA in 1996. According to the main man, Kanu,:"This made me realise that there must be thousands of underprivileged people with heart defects who cannot afford the treatment" It is indeed a way of giving back to the community.

The audience was then given the opportunity to see some of the amazing skills of this Igbo born striker on video. It also brought back memories of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta when the Dream Team stunned the world by getting Brazil , Argentina and Mexico off their track to win the gold medal. The 10 minute display also included some of his exploits in the Premiership, this was frequently punctuated with cheers of Kanu-with the last two letters fading into the cold night. One notably thing I obser ved was, it's not advisable for anyone who has just finished any pepperish food to play against Kanu on his day. The experience wouldn't be pleasant, some of his opponents (goalkeepers inclusive) were left sprawling on the floor due to his crafty body movement and mesmerising dribbles.

Two sets of choir also treated attendees with beautiful renditions, while fellow Nigerians under the auspices of the Young Igbos Social Club gave us a taste of their traditional heritage with Oja Rhythms. It was nice seeing the masquerades treating Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger and the entire audience to some Igbo tunes. A group of four young men from Igboland also played R & B / Garage which in no small measure revealed the potentials of many guests itching to go to the dance floor.

There was also the presentation of the 'Ambassador of Hearts awards" to a number of individuals who have supported the Foundation in one way or another.Presenters of the awards included Miss World 2001, Darego Agbani, while Mr and Mrs Taylor, parents of Damilola Taylor, were among the few recipients. Some of the beneficiaries of KNHF were also recognised. A youth group of African/Carribean descent also sang and danced to African music while guests took time to keep the chefs and other kitchen personnel busy. A number of items went on auction including a date with some of the many celebrities on parade. The bidders paid as much as four figured sums to have a date out with the likes of Patrick Vierra, Sol Campbell, Celestine Babayaro and Thierry Henry.

How can i forget the amazing talent of Adebayo Jones, who co-ordinated the fashion show with clothes he designed? Jones has designed for Darego Agbani and the likes of Patti Boulaye. The models who were paraded in his designs all had the corresponding statistics. It would have been a case of square pegs in round holes if the reverse was the case. It wasn't a suprise that he received a standing ovation at the end of the show.

Of course, such an event would not be complete without the opportunity to shake your body. As we were directed back to the first floor multipurpose hall, it was obvious that the problem wasn't who to dance with, but how to make the right choice. This was made more difficult by those who came for the party alone. You only needed to stay on the lobby to realise that making a choice and sticking by same requires a lot of self control. When it was about 2.40a.m, i knew that hitherto has the Lord helped me and i left with my friend.

It should also be mentioned that KNHF has already exceeded the target it set for itself. The Foundation had intended to sponsor 20 operations in its first year, but 35 operations were carried out at approximately �15,000 per treatment. Even if as Kanu said: 'We may not be able to save every child with a heart defect in Africa-but every life we are able to save goes a long way to saving the world".Children in Africa are being given a new lease of life. If Kanu is indebted to the committed surgeons who attended to him in Cleveland, we all owe him as well for remembering to plough back into the lives of others and his renewed commitment to keep their hearts ticking.

There's no better way to round off this article than to remember the award winning song: "we are the world, we are the children, we are the one to make a brighter day......." which USA (United Support Of Artistes fro Africa ) sang in aid of African children over a decade ago. African stars and philantropists should not wait for the Michael Jacksons and Lionel Richies of this world to come back and do another record to support our children. We can all follow kanu's example and get more young hearts ticking.