Imagine just four matches into your PSL career you are slapped with a ban for a doping violation and in the aftermath of that your father and child pass away with your wife also leaving you.
With that drug ban, you sink into suicidal thoughts and miss out on an opportunity to be David Beckham’s teammate in the MLS.
PART 1 | Brazilian footballer who became an English tutor while picking up isiZulu
This is what happened to Jonas Oketola – the Benin midfielder who played for Thanda Royal Zulu in 2008 after being by Roger Palmgren who had been his coach at Kwara United in Nigeria.
"After Thanda received that letter about that I had been banned they terminated my contract and chased me out of the place where I was staying and sent me away on the first flight," Oketola tells KickOff from Porto-Novo in Benin where he now lives what he refers to as a ‘life of suffering’.
Oketola spent a year at Thanda but initially didn’t play for the first six months (January-June 2008).
When he eventually started playing, he lasted a mere four games before he was found to have used a prohibited substance amphetamine leading to a two-year ban.
His debut on August 30, 2008, against Kaizer Chiefs was a masterclass then delivered full shifts against Bloemfontein Celtic, AmaZulu, and SuperSport United.
"The truth about what happened is that I had a knee operation in Durban and when I went to Nigeria, I was given some painkillers which I brought back.
"I had no idea how long those painkillers would stay in my body and didn’t know they contained substances that were not allowed.
"All I knew was that the painkillers worked wonders for my knee.
"I took the painkiller three days before the match in which I was then tested and thought it wouldn’t be even in my body by then.
"I then tested positive, and the club didn’t want anything to do with me from then onwards and just didn’t want to listen.
"I would have never used any banned substance if I had known.
"All my life I have never used drugs, I only drink alcohol.
"Why would I have intentionally taken drugs for when I had gone to the AFCON finals twice without using drugs?
"I’m an honest, hardworking guy.
"What hurts the most is that when I was banned, I was just three months away from moving to LA Galaxy in the USA where I would have played with David Beckham," says Oketola.
Oketola – born in Abomey, Benin to a Nigerian father and a Beninese mother was forced to go back to Nigeria where he did his schooling and started his career.
"When I came back to Nigeria, I lost my dad.
"My dad was paralysed because of all the stress that he then had since I was the breadwinner of the family.
"After that, I lost my firstborn child, and then my wife left me and so many other things went bad for me, but I thank God that I’m still alive.
"The only thing that I had ever known was how to play football, so I was stranded without an income because I never got anything from Thanda even though they still owed me part of my signing-on fees.
"The truth is that even up to now I’m still suffering, and I only get to forget about my troubles when I play in the All-Stars game and have some beer afterward.
"Right now, I’m alone and I have nobody.
"I have four kids, but they are scattered all over because of the sad way life has happened for me.
"I have thought about committing suicide so many times, but I have been strong enough to stay up," he says.
Following the ban which envelopes all FIFA member countries, Oketola then left to play for Kucuk Kaymakli TSK in the non-FIFA affiliated Northern Cyprus league where he spent six months before moving back home to US Seme Krake where his career ended 13 years ago.
He now only keeps active by playing in the league for ex-professionals and runs a small electrical gadgets business.
"In Northern Cyprus, I was getting paid less than half of what I had been getting at Thanda where I started at R35 000 which would go up every three to six months depending on how games I played.
"The issue with Northern Cyprus is that even with the USD2500 that they pay there is no guarantee that you would get it so that is why I left after a few months.
"In the end. I just had to make peace with that this ban just killed my career," says Oketola.
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