The estranged father of Super Eagles and Fulham defender Calvin Bassey has launched an emotional public appeal for reconciliation, claiming he is “dying in silence” after nearly 18 years of separation from his four sons.
Kingsley Ughelumba, speaking in a series of heartbreaking interviews published Tuesday, pleaded for a reunion with his children, whose lives he has been largely absent from since a domestic dispute led to the collapse of his marriage to their mother, Ebere Bassey.
”I am dying in silence,” Ughelumba told reporters. “I have no problems with my children; it is just their mother that is making me feel bad. I just want everyone to help out. I want to see my children.”
A Family Divided
Ughelumba revealed that his first three sons—Elvis, Mathew, and Calvin—were born in Italy, while the youngest, Michael, was born in Ireland. The family eventually settled in London, but the marriage fractured shortly thereafter.
”We had husband-and-wife arguments,” Ughelumba recalled. “I went to work and before I came back, she had left with the children.”
The father claimed that for nearly two decades, his attempts to reach them were systematically blocked. He alleged that his only significant contact occurred in 2017, when the children needed his documentation to secure Nigerian passports. Despite providing the necessary papers and funding travel, communication was allegedly severed again once the process was complete.
Failed Reconnections
The depth of the estrangement was highlighted by Ughelumba’s accounts of several failed attempts to speak with Calvin, who has risen to international football stardom. In 2020, Ughelumba traveled to Leicester, where Calvin was playing at the time, only to be rebuffed.
”I wasn’t looking for him because he was a footballer; I wanted to see my son,” he said. He described a tense encounter at the club’s grounds where Calvin reportedly told him he “didn’t want to see me again” before driving off.
More recently, Ughelumba traveled to Abidjan during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and later to Abuja, desperate for a few moments with the defender, but both efforts proved unsuccessful.
The Mother’s Influence
The Super Eagles star has been vocal in the past about his devotion to his mother, even choosing to wear her surname, “Bassey,” on his jersey as a tribute to her sacrifices. In previous statements, the 26-year-old defender remarked simply that his father was “just not in my life” since he was six years old.
However, Ughelumba maintains that the rift is not organic. “She muted me after Calvin signed for a football club,” he alleged, suggesting that his disappearance from their lives was a deliberate act of parental alienation.
As of Tuesday evening, neither Calvin Bassey nor his representatives have issued a formal response to the latest appeal. Ughelumba, a native of Ihiala in Anambra State, says he remains hopeful for a private resolution.
”I am begging Nigerians to help me,” he added. “I only want peace and forgiveness.”
