Taribo lived what Jay Z called 'a hard knock life' growing up in the dangerous streets of Shomolu which he likened to the Bronx. The gangs ruled the streets and if you were not with them, you definitely against them and for young Taribo who did not want to incur the wrath of the mob stuck on them like white on rice.
Taribo got by on his proceeds from his share of their crime deals but was more interested in street football until one day that things took an unexpected event, his best friend and fellow member in the gang was stabbed to death by the members of a rival gang for failure to return a bag of money which they claimed belonged to them. He watched powerlessly and helplessly as his friend bled to death which made him run back to Port Harcourt, his place of birth where he turned a new leaf focusing more on the round leather game which earned him a place in the Flying Eagles Squad of 1991 and losing out narrowly in being selected among the USA 94 Squad.
From that moment there was no stopping the young man as he got a contract to play in the French League with first division club Auxerre where he won the French league under the management of Guy Roux.
Taribo was among the victorious team at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 clinching the gold medal from the favourites Brazil and Argentina and played for the senior national team, the Super Eagles from the year 1998 till 2006 when he hung his boots after an illustrous career in Internazionale and later rivals AC Milan and then Partizan Belgrade.
He is now Pastor of a church as well as a role model to young people from the streets as he said that God had changed him from an arrogant footballer to a humble servant of God
Friend if he could make it from his rough background so can anybody else.
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