Kingsley Ughelumba, father of Super Eagles and Fulham defender, Calvin Bassey, has made another emotional appeal to reconnect with his son and other children after nearly 18 years apart.
Speaking publicly, Ughelumba revealed he continues to hold on to hope for reconciliation and said he has been “dying in silence” throughout the years of estrangement.
Ughelumba, a native of Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State, disclosed that his first three sons, Elvis, Mathew, and Calvin, were born in Italy, while his youngest, Michael, was born in Ireland.
He said the family lived together briefly in London before disputes between him and his wife led to their separation.
He explained that the split happened abruptly following marital disagreements.
“We had husband-and-wife arguments. I went to work, and before I returned, she had left with the children,” Ughelumba told reporters in a social media interview that has since gone viral.
Contact between Ughelumba and his children resumed briefly in 2017 when they required Nigerian passports. He provided all necessary documents and purchased flight tickets for his sons.
“When they stayed with me then, I never told them their mum did anything to me. She has muted me since he signed for a football club,” he said.
Calvin Bassey, 26, who emerged through Leicester City’s youth system, rose to prominence after joining Rangers on a free transfer in 2020. He made 65 appearances for the Scottish club, winning both the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish Cup.
In July 2022, he transferred to Ajax for €23 million, a record fee for Rangers at the time, before moving to Fulham in 2023 for €22 million.
Bassey made his Nigeria debut in March 2022 during the World Cup play-off against Ghana and has since earned 43 caps, featuring prominently in the last two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Ughelumba described several failed attempts to reconnect with his children since 2020. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he drove from London to Leicester, hoping to see Calvin, but was unable to gain access due to restrictions imposed by the children’s mother. But, Leicester City officials intervened, helping him to contact his son.
“There was a name I used to call him when he was small, ‘Biggy’. When they called him that, he responded immediately,” Ughelumba recalled.
However, the meeting ended abruptly. “He called his mum, and afterwards he changed. He got upset and told me to say whatever I wanted to say and leave. He said he didn’t want to see me again and drove off,” he said.
In 2023, Ughelumba travelled from Italy to Côte d’Ivoire during the Africa Cup of Nations in another attempt to see his son, attending the Nigeria vs Angola match through assistance from a journalist and the football federation. He later visited Abuja, but was still unable to reconnect with Calvin.
“Since then, I have been dying in silence. I don’t have any problems with my children. It’s just their mum who made me feel bad. Even if I am a devil, I can’t be a devil where my children are,” he said.
Bassey has consistently credited his mother for supporting his football career. Earlier in his career, he was listed under his father’s surname, Ughelumba, but later adopted his mother’s surname.
“Since I was six, it has been mum and us boys. I knew that if I got the chance to put my name on the back of a shirt, I wanted it to be my mum’s name, my way of saying thank you,” he said.
As of this report, Bassey has not publicly commented on his father’s renewed appeal.
