Efetobore Sodje: How Mum made me wear Bandana

Super Eagles nine-cap defender, Efetobore Sodje aka Bandana Man has disclosed the fascinating yet shocking story behind his trademark bandana.
Interestingly, the bandana tale motivated the now famous charity foundation, The Sodje Foundation, which has touched lives of scores of children in Africa and UK.
Over time, footballers have carved different means of identification for themselves. While some stand out with their flashy hairstyles, some others’ tattoos make them unique in the crowd.
But if you think Sodje wears his bandana for these reasons you are wrong, it was not for fancy that he started wearing the headgear 18 years ago.
The Warri-born player has earned cult-figure status for wearing the bandana emblazoned with his personal motto Against All Odds. On and off the pitch, Sodje is rarely without his bandana since his mother told him in 1994 that it would help him ward off evil spirits.
Hear him: “Obviously as Africans, if our parents tell us to do something, you never go against them. So that was why when my mother asked me to wear it, I didn‘t object at all. She actually had a dream and she asked me to wear it. That was 1994 and I have worn it ever since. That is the story of me and my bandana. Everybody now knows me as the Bandana Man. It‘s okay because it has brought me good luck,”
But it has cost him dearly too as he once turned down a position as a local magistrate in England because they would not let him wear his traditional bandana.
You could say he was lucky to be part of Nigeria‘s squad to the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup and he played two of the Eagles three matches at the tournament, as he was playing for lowly Crewe Alexandra in the lower leagues of England when he got an invitation for the trip to Asia.
This factor may have helped him to understand that in life some people are not so lucky, hence his decision to sprout milk of kindness in his native country and UK. 
Sodje's love for his roots in the oil rich creek of Warri-Nigeria made him start a sporting foundation and later his siblings, four of them, also into professional football, to join up with him to form what is now known today as The Sodje Foundation. 
The 39-year-old and his brothers have been helping people in their native country for the last 11 years.
It started with the family taking old football kits home, but they then set up the Sodje Sports Foundation which became an official charity in 2009.
Now the charity is close to having an official sponsor in the national airlines of Nigeria, Arik.
And their work has been recognised by the House Of Lords
The brothers expanded the fundraising last year to build a N60 million sports facility in Nigeria.
They organised a dinner at the Lowry Hotel in September of last year followed by a charity match between The Sodje Foundation and Forever Bury FC at Bury Football Club ground in April 29, 2012.
“l must say that the events, which were put together to raise money for our cause and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital were highly successful”. Sodje stated.
Guests at the fundraising dinner on September 21and that of April 2012 are   Bury FC players, boxer Johnny Nelson, Blackburn striker Jason Roberts, boxing promoter Frank Maloney and Bury boxing star Scott Quigg. footballers Darren Moore, Dean Gordon, Danny Shittu. Rugby aces Martin Offiah and Keith Senior.
Sodje knows how important football boots and kits are children in Nigeria. He said: "You had to look after your football boots as you didn’t know where the next ones would come from. Football boots had to last years and I didn’t get my own pair of boots until I was 20. When I became a professional footballer, I couldn’t believe people stopped using them after a couple of months.
"When we take the kit over every May, it is so rewarding to see the kids’ faces when we give them out as I know how hard it is for them. This is my passion. We have been doing it for the last 11 years and paid for it out of our own pockets but, as the foundation has grown, so has the help we have got from airlines, other charities and people we have met along the way."
Sodje is the ‘face’ of the foundation due to his famous bandana. Besides Efe, there is also Sam, Akpo and Steve who have played football in this country while Bright is an ex-rugby league player and nephew Onome plays football in Slovakia.
Efe added: "We wanted to do something for a Manchester-based charity with me being at Bury. Phil Neville’s mum Jill is secretary at Bury and Phil is patron at the Manchester Children’s Hospital so I went to give out Easter eggs there.
"It was a real eye opener for me. There was an 18 month child with leukemia and it was heartbreaking to see. I was close to tears but I had to be strong because the parents were so strong.
"You see what the kids go through and how they take it in their stride – it just blows you away. It makes our day-to-day moans seem so insignificant."