Charles Chibuezechukwu, better known by his stage name Crayon, a well-known Nigerian singer, has detailed how some top NFF officials cut short his football career by selecting someone from a wealthy background instead of him.

The singer of "Trench to Triumph" claimed that corrupt officials later fired him after he was chosen to play for a national youth team in 2015.

He revealed this in a current interview with Lagos' Cool FM Nigeria.

He claimed that the incident was a factor in his 2015 depression.

Crayon said, “I became depressed in 2015 because I couldn’t get into the university. All my friends were in school. At that time, I was really close to my friends. I was the youngest among my friends. Every time they are around, it is always fun. Then they all got admitted to the universities in Ghana, Benin, etc. I was just me in the hood.

“It was so boring. I didn’t have anything to do or anywhere to go. And my football career at that time wasn’t really kicking off for me either. I used to play football. I used to be a proper footballer. They called me ‘Coutinho’ in my hood. You know Prime Minister Coutinho, who played for Liverpool?

“I tried to become a professional footballer, but it didn’t work out for me because football in Nigeria is quite dicey. There is a lot of corruption. I don’t want to mention names because it might hurt some people. They are big names; they are top [football] officials.

“At a time I went for one screening in Surulere [National Stadium], they [NFF officials] picked me, and they had to like swindle me and pick someone else because the person had money and connections. So, at that point, I became disappointed. I went home depressed.”