The Informal Portrait: Nigerian Soccer Boy

   

Young Nigerian Soccer Player, Abak, Ibom Province, Nigeria

Olympus OM2n, 85mm f2 Zuiko lens, Fujichrome RDP 100 film

 

 On the 1989 trip to Africa mentioned in my previous post, I went from Ghana to Nigeria, where I spent a day in Lagos, the capital, before going to Abak in Ibom province where the Church of God national headquarters and hospital were located. 

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. At the time of my visit one out of every four Africans lived in Nigeria. The northern half of the nation was mostly Islamic, while the southern half was mostly Christian. In recent years Islam appears to be in the ascendancy. The Church of God presence in Nigeria was effective, but relatively small compared to the total population, and confined mostly to the southern part of the country.

I spent several days at the mission compound with the National Overseer (Bishop), a Jamaican, and his wife, an American; photographing worship services and the healing ministry of the hospital. It was here, after evening chapel services at the hospital, that I made the photograph that I consider my all-time best. 

After evening chapel service at the Church

of God Hospital, Abak, Ibom, Nigeria

Olympus OM2n, 100-300mm f4 Tokina lens 

 

 One afternoon I made several photos of boys playing soccer on the mission compound lawn. One in particular caught my eye, so I asked if I could make his portrait. With his expression of in-your-face aggressiveness that I consider typically Nigerian, he reminded me of Hakeem Olajuwon, the great Nigerian basketball player for the University of Houston and the Houston Rockets. 

(Photographs copyright David B. Jenkins 2021)

Soli Gloria Deo

To the glory of God alone 

 

Africa  Ghana  Lagos  Abak  Ibom  Church of God  Islam  Christian  Jamaican  mission hospital  Hakeem Olajuwon  University of Houston  Houston Rockets  Olympus OM2n  Zuiko  Tokina  Fujichrome RDP 100