Interview: I Am The Happy One - Fidelis Ilechukwu

Interview: I Am The Happy One - Fidelis Ilechukwu By Omolagba Oluwayemi Popularly known as the Working one during his time in Lagos, Fidelis Ilechukwu said he got the accolade from fans who loved him and what he's doing then. Fidelis Ilechukwu was known for his antics and celebration on the touchline during his early days in the NPFL with MFM FC, which made him popular not just in Lagos but across the country. With a crop of young players, Ilechukwu qualified MFM FC for the continent in 2018, although they lost scandalously in Algeria to MC Algiers (6-0). His work rate during those times earned him the name in working one which is very popular among the Soccer Temple Lagos fans. Speaking on the name the Working one, Ikechukwu said: "I did not create those names by myself, fans created them and to me as you can see now, I'm very happy. In as much as there are much challenges ahead of us, there is nothing we can do. "Most important thing you need to do is to make sure that you're happy because if you die out of thinking, those you're thinking and suffering for will not attend your burial. "So if you leave me, I'll choose the happy one as of greatest name I can ever answer in football field because no matter how you do it, everybody will not like you. "You just have to work hard, you just have to be happy, you just have to make sure that the number one thing you'll keep is integrity, make sure you remove sentiments. You just have to make sure you're very fair in judgement. "Judgement for one, judgement for all and as you do all these, every other mistakes as a human being they may accuse you of, make sure you're happy because everything will be alright." I'm still very much in-touch with Stephen Odey and co I'm still very much in-touch with Stephen Odey, Sikiru and Onuwa and so many of them, although these are the ones people know about. "There are so many of my players who are based in Europe right now, so many of them." "Sometimes we do phone calls, video calls but our job is to make sure we advice them, make sure they understand where they're coming from, they must remember the struggling days and also remember their friends and families and also their fans so they won't be like other players who will travel and fail to come back to take care of those they've suffered together, those who supported them and even those who didn't." "We're communicating which is very important, advising them to do the best and also to be discipline on and off the pitch so they can last longer in football." In his 13 years with MFM FC, Fidelis Ilechukwu enjoyed some level of achievements, first qualifying them for the premier league alongside Nduka Ugbade and then taking them to a second place finish, narrowly losing the league to Plateau United on the final day of the 2017 Nigeria Professional Football League season.