A former Super Eagles star, Daniel Amokachi, has advocated for global awareness to combat youth mental health challenges. The football star spoke at a United Nations (UN) high-profile event tagged ‘One World, One Game, One Goal: Football for the Goals Initiative’ at the (UN) headquarters in New York. The event, convened by the UN Youth Affairs Office, brought together member states, young leaders, policymakers, and athletes including Pop Mensah-Bonsu, the former NBA player, Eniola Aluko MBE, a British-Nigerian football executive, broadcaster, lawyer, and former professional football player, to highlight the power of sports in promoting mental well-being. Sharing his personal struggles, Amokachi, the Olympic gold medalist recounted how an unexpected injury ahead of the 1998 World Cup derailed his career and severely impacted his mental health. “Before the World Cup in France, a very good friend of mine and I had planned to end up in Serie A or the Premiership. We had our calculations, but God had His,” Amokachi said. “We went to the World Cup, I got injured, went under the knife, and six months later, doctors told me I couldn’t play football anymore. That was when mental health challenges hit me.” The former Everton forward said the experience inspired him to set up the Daniel Amokachi Eduplus Youth Development Foundation, which focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, quality education, peace, justice and strong institutions. “When it comes to mental health, the context of addressing it in Europe or America is different from the way you tackle it in Africa. “Experience has shown us that mental health issues can not only be tackled in classrooms or conference rooms but on the field,” he added.
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