The death of Rashidi Yekini last week Friday brought to a close three years of speculation over the lifestyle of Nigeria's all-time highest goalscorer.

Yekini joined Shooting Stars in 1982 and a year later, they won the league title. It was a time club football was at its glorious best in Nigeria. Yekini played his part to bring joy to the people's face. He scored loads of goals, and always delayed celebration till another day except when the goal was decisive.

Yekini met several senior players in the team. Players like Segun Odegbami, Felix Owolabi and the late Best Ogedegbe were already big stars because of their roles in Nigeria's success at the Africa Nations Cup in 1980.

The team's camp at the time was the Bembo Games Village in Ibadan. It was an ideal location to bring players to term with nature and inspire concentration. Yekini was not a smoker, he did not drink alcohol and he hardly had any pastime. At the time, his life revolved around football.

While some of the players were sneaking out to meet friends, girls and send local boys to buy them things forbidden in the camp, Yekini slept heavily once the day's training was over. When he came out into the vast garden of the games village, he would sit on the swing with his praying beads. He was not the outgoing type but he respected senior players like Odegbami, who was always reading books, and Owolabi, who made everyone laugh.

In 1983, the players were rewarded with new Peugeot 504 car but Yekini did not drive his own. His friends said he did not know how to drive and he was too busy with football to learn driving. Outside the camp, Yekini usually visited the Sabo area of Ibadan, where he had friends among the Hausa. He dined with them and prayed at the mosque. Because of him, many of the Hausa started supporting Shooting Stars and they would sing his name during matches. He never disappointed so it was easy to look out for his strikes.

When he joined Abiola Babes, Ibadan fans did not like it even though the striker left when the team was disbanded after losing the Champions Cup final to Zamalek in Lagos. But Yekini was always coming to Ibadan from Abeokuta until he moved abroad.

When he showed up again at Bembo area after the 1994 World Cup, many wondered if he had a house there. By then, he had lost most of his features as a shy individual. He was driving a White Mercedes Benz jeep and one day, Yekini was traced by some of the boys in the area to a house on Adeogun Layout, which belongs to the parents of Kemi, the University of Ibadan graduate he later married in an elaborate wedding; that was the final goal Yekini scored before moving to Olympiacos of Greece.

There is no confirmation on Yekini's other skills although some of his friends said he trained as a motor mechanic in Kaduna before joining UNTL in 1981. After three years in Africa Sports of Ivoire Coast, the striker was signed by Vitoria Setubal of Portugal in 1990. He rose to the status of the setubal legend in four seasons, scoring 90 goals in 108 appearances.

After scoring 32 goals in 34 matches for the club in 1993, and being the highest goal scorer in the 1992 Nations Cup in Senegal, Yekini easily won the African Footballer of the Year Award in 1993. He was the first Nigerian to do so. In 1994, he scored five Nations Cup goals in Tunisia to retain his crown as the competition's top goalscorer. He was also the Most Valuable Player in the edition won by Nigeria.

After the World Cup in 1994, where he scored Nigeria's first World Cup goal, Yekini moved to Olympiacos of Greece, but his one year stay was not successful. He had a great challenge adapting to their style of play and he accused his teammates of not passing the ball to him.

He moved to Spain in 1995, where he played for Sporting Gijon. After a season, he returned to Setubal briefly in 1997 before Swiss club, Zurich, offered him a contract. He also played in Tunisia and Saudi Arabia before returning home through Africa Sports, taking the same route he took when he was leaving Nigeria.

One of Yekini's few friends said the striker spoke French and Portuguese well even though he never mastered the art of English. He added that in Portugal, the former Super Eagles star was given a whole house by the club after impressing in first season, but Yekini rejected the offer, telling the club that he preferred a smaller apartment.

In his three-bedroom apartment, he converted one room to a little mosque where he prayed. He also used one as private gym and slept in the last room. The friend, who was in Portugal when the player arrived in the country, said Yekini's neighbours lined up the driveway leading to his house to catch a glimpse of the goal machine.

 At home, Yekini joined Julius Berger at a time when the team moved to Abeokuta. It was a move that brought back the fans to the stadium and he was an inspiration to the younger players. During one of the team's training sessions at the MKO Abiola Stadium one day, this writer approached coach Fatai Amao for permission to speak to Yekini. The request was granted but a few minutes before the interview began, the striker received a call and promptly cancelled the appointment. He said he had to travel to Ibadan immediately to attend to family matters.

Apart from the goal Yekini scored at the World Cup, Nigerians must have forgotten that the gangling striker was at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, where he played all the three matches and scored Nigeria's only goal at the tournament, in a 3-1 loss to Yugoslavia. Yekini was the second player in the team in the Olympic squad to die, the first being Samuel Okwaraji, who died on Aug 12 1989 at the National Stadium, Lagos.