Our colleague Edirhin has been quite busy literally living his best life! Edirhin wears many hats and has excelled in them all. In this Independence month issue, we learn what it is to live a balanced life of passion and service. As Edirhin shares his journey from football to engineering while leading a well-known congregation in Port-Harcourt.
HH People: Tell us your name and what you do.
EE: My name is Edirhin Eta and I work at Heirs Holdings Oil & Gas Port Harcourt as a Well Specialist leading a team of Well Intervention Engineers.
HH People: At what age did you discover your football talent?
EE: At age 10 when I was in Primary 4. At the time, I was selected to represent my school in an interschool football competition and despite being young and smallish I made the school team. Truthfully, it was during the try-outs for this competition that I recognised my talent. Anytime I was on the field, my fellow pupils would cheer me and chant my name “Eta! Eta!! Eta!!!”, these praises confirmed to me that I was indeed a good player.
HH People: How did you feel when you were scouted to play for the National team?
EE: When I was scouted out, I had mixed feelings – first happiness, then fear. I was extremely happy to be chosen to play football internationally, but I was also afraid of my dad stopping me because he never approved of my football career, and it was quite understandable. My dad was also a sportsman. He used to be a boxer and spent a lot of time chasing a future in sports which didn’t pay off. So, he didn’t want any of his kids to make the same mistake.
So, when I was scouted out, I kept thinking about what my dad would do to me if he found out. I don’t even know how I survived those days because it was quite tough, however, I still managed to find time to do what I loved doing.
HH People: Did you ever play for Nigeria?
EE: No, but I was actually selected for screening twice in the flying Eagles. The first screening was held in Makurdi and after 3 weeks I was dropped and given cash compensation to go back home. The second screening was held in Lagos. It wasn’t even up to 2 weeks before I got dropped again (chuckles). When I was screened out the second time, I decided to leave football and go back to school fully, because I was still doing well in school then.
HH People: Do you have any regrets about leaving a career in football behind?
EE: I can tell you no, and here’s the reason. Of all my mates that continued a career in football after I left, only very few are doing well today. The majority of them are living below average standards because football didn’t pay off and they didn’t complete their education. But thankfully, I had my studies going well for me. I was doing very well academically such that despite chasing a career in sports, I was always in the 2-1 grade. So, after football didn’t work out for me, I went back to finish my university education, graduated, got a job and today, I have a fantastic career. I really thank my father for keeping me focused.
HH People: Tell us the places you have worked and the role you played at each place to date.
EE: I started my career at Nigerite Group, as a lab foreman and in four years I grew to become a Process Manager, I was responsible for making and designing the mixtures for different products. Sometimes construction companies come with special products to meet certain quality and I would go to my lab to design a prototype. If it passed the test, we produce it for industrial use.
I later moved to Shell in 1993 as an engineer. I worked first as a Production Supervisor, then I moved into Pipeline Engineering. I rose to head of Well Operations at Shell and then in 2018 I decided to take a bow. I went home to rest but the people wouldn’t allow me; the calls kept coming in. Companies wanted me to consult for them, so I consulted for a service company for 12-15 months, then left again to rest.
After 3 months of staying at home, I got a call from Heirs Holdings Oil & Gas and right now I am enjoying myself doing what I know how to do.
HH People: Are any of your kids as talented as you?
EE: Yes, my last child, his name is Daniel and he’s 15. He has sustained so many injuries because he is always playing football. I don’t stop him because I want someone to go past where I stopped. Interestingly, he is very popular in his school, in football clubs here in Port Harcourt and he is doing very well academically, just like me. As I speak to you, he has been registered in the Manchester United Academy.
HH People: Do you wish him to take on football as a profession?
EE: I don’t want to choose for him, I just flow with him that’s what I do now. He told me that he wants to go to University in the UK because he wants to play for Leicester. I am confident that if he goes there, he won’t slack in his academics, he will continue to excel in both fields- that’s just who we are. And if he decides to pursue a career in football full-time, I won’t stop him. I will be happy to watch him play in the stadium or on TV and be proud to say Yes that’s my son.
HH People: Rate the Super Eagles on a scale of 1-10
EE: I’ll rate them 5, not because they are doing poorly, but because of the way they pick footballers. In this country, we don’t even have a Football Academy where you train talents until they become Super Eagles. They just scout around the country and bring in people that have been trained by different groups and then try to blend them together. This, I believe is our weakness. Blending players together within a few weeks or for only a few weeks or months doesn’t work well, they should be allowed to grow together. That’s how we grew when we were playing football.
But what is obtained today is that when there’s a competition, we go round the world asking people to be patriotic enough to play for their nation, that’s not patriotism. Patriotism is building from the inside.
HH People: Who is your favourite Super Eagles player?
EE: Kelechi Iheanacho, my son made me love him but during my own time, it was Stephen Keshi (late).
HH People: What advice do you have for aspiring sportsmen or women?
EE: Football is a very fantastic game, but I would like to encourage aspiring sportsmen to spend some time developing themselves: that was what we did during our time. Even at night when people are fast asleep, we will be outside practising all kinds of tricks with the ball. My advice is this- have a personal practice time, don’t rely on group training alone.
HH People: You have a church, right?
EE: Yes, I am a Pastor
HH People: Wow you’re indeed a man of many talents. Tell us how that started.
EE: In 2004, during a church program, I got an auction to go to Theology school. After the service, I went to the Pastor to seek permission and some advice. After listening to me, he walked into his office and came back with an admission form for a Pastoral school in the United States that was meant for him. So, I filled and submitted the form. When it was time for me to go for the course, I asked for a leave of absence from Shell where I was working then which was turned down, so I resigned and left regardless.
After my 18-month course in Theology in Kentucky, I came back to Nigeria thinking that I had lost my job then in Shell, but when I looked at my account, I noticed that I hadn’t been paid any severance. So, I went to the company to clarify things. I asked “What’s happening? Am I not entitled to something after resigning?” and everybody was looking at me like I was speaking jargons. Apparently, the resignation was not processed! They felt my resignation was impulsive because my leave of absence was turned down, hence why it wasn’t processed.
Long story short, my role was reinstated, they gave me my computer, my desk, that same day and I continued from where I left off. I was like this is God doing things for me!
Today I have my own church and it is called Joint Heirs Assembly International. It was established out of a conviction I got some years ago. The church has been on for 15 years and we have grown tremendously. We now have three branches- two in Port Harcourt and one in Warri.
HH People: On October 1st, Nigeria turned 61; what do you wish for the country?
EE: I wish for Nigeria to become industrialised because we are currently far from it. We need to be intentional about developing our manufacturing industries. This, I believe, would yield significant economic improvement in Nigeria.
“…nobody, except us, can build this country we call home. “
Lastly, we need to be re-oriented and become more patriotic both government and citizens alike because nobody, except us, can build this country we call home.
