At 16, rising soccer star Kabiru Adewunmi had NCAA Division 1 recruiters after him. The talented yet humble teen was on his way to something big, his Chicago Fire coach said on Friday.
Instead, the Amundsen High School sophomore took his last breaths Tuesday night in a puddle of blood after a gunman ambushed him as he left a Chatham neighborhood convenience store with four friends. Police say the teen was heading back to his apartment after celebrating a big Chicago Bulls playoff win when he was riddled with bullets in the 800 block of East 82nd Street.
Police said the shooting might have been gang-related, yet officials said they do not believe Adewunmi was in a gang.
But WMAQ-Channel 5 News reported that a car pulled up to the teens and someone inside asked, “Are you the Nigerian soccer players?’’ When they answered that they were, the person in the car opened fire, Channel 5 reported. Police would not confirm that account late Friday.
The teen had been away from his native Nigeria for less than a year after securing a spot on a highly competitive youth soccer team affiliated with the Chicago Fire. He had moved with a legal guardian from the North Side just weeks ago.
Sole Antonijevic, who coached Adewunmi in the under-17 league, said that when the teen came to tryouts last October, “right away you could see his talent, his level of play and his desire to one day become a professional soccer player.
He added:“He was just a fantastic kid. He always had a big smile on his face, was very humble and always worked hard on the field and at school. He was the type of kid that every coach would love to have on their team.”
6 comments:
This is sad,I believe there is a growing animosity towards Nigerians overseas especially since we come from very limiting backgrounds which has increased our competitive spirit in a good way and when we travel abroad we fight with the competitive spirit that we are used to which results in jealousy from other people groups. look at this from wikipedia-
According to the London Daily Times "Black Africans have emerged as the most highly educated members of British society, surpassing even the Chinese as the most academically successful ethnic minority."[25] In a side-by-side comparison of 2000 census data by sociologists including John R. Logan at the Mumford Center, State University of New York at Albany, black immigrants from Africa averaged the highest educational attainment of any population group in the U.S., including whites and Asians.
According to an analysis of Census Bureau data by The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, some 48.9 percent of all African immigrants hold a college diploma.[26] This is slightly more than the percentage of Asian immigrants to the U.S., nearly double the rate for native-born white Americans, and nearly four times the rate for native-born African Americans. In an article by Clarence Page for the Chicago Tribune 43.8 percent of African immigrants had achieved a college degree, compared with 42.5 of Asian Americans, 28.9 percent for immigrants from Europe, Russia and Canada and 23.1 percent of the U.S. population. The article beginning with the lines "Do African immigrants make the smartest Americans?" was meant to call attention to the dubiousness of affirmative action.[27]
Similar to the Asian American population, attainment rates vary widely between countries. While some African immigrants to the United States such as Nigerians,[28] Nigerians have both the largest number of immigrants as well as the highest educational attainment and income statistics
@ Uche May 1, 2011 11:15 AM:
I am quite sure that the bastards that killed Kabiru Adewunmi did not read that outdated "statistics" you just copied and pasted.
May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace Kabiru Adewunmi, AMEN.
to the young humble boy that was murdered.. may his soul res t in peace...
To kill a human being because he is more competitive that other races is stupendous....
I mean, just because we come from a country that has failed us doesn't mean we are losers or failures!!! We have the right to compete and be good at whatever field we are in! I am proud of being a Nigerian and here in Asia, especially, Malaysia, you have to try harder to secure a job and recognition even though they dont have half of your talents... it is a reality check on GEJ to do something and work on bringing back the best brains outside back to their homeland and making them feel at home...
May God comfort Kabiru's loved ones. This is way too sad. Thanks Uche for the very helpful information.
This is really sad, May God protect Nigerians everywhere. Thanks Uche for the nice info.
@ Anon:May 1, 2011 3:52 PM, Uche was only trying to prove a point and he even stated his source 'London Daily Times'... Learn to show some love.
pure jealousy!Its well....
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