The father of Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has once again made an emotional plea, revealing he has been estranged from his children for nearly two decades and is desperate for reconciliation.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Kingsley Ughelumba, from Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State, reopened the painful chapter in a recent social media interview, stating that he has had almost no meaningful contact with his four sons—including Fulham star Calvin—for over 18 years. He attributed the prolonged separation to a breakdown in his relationship with their mother, Ebere Bassey.

Ughelumba first spoke publicly about the estrangement two years ago but returned with renewed emotion, describing himself as “dying in silence” while still holding onto hope that his children might one day come back into his life.

He revealed that his first three sons—Elvis, Mathew, and Calvin—were born in Italy, while the youngest, Michael, was born in Ireland. The family lived briefly in London before the parents’ marriage collapsed.

“We had husband-and-wife arguments. I went to work, and before I returned, she had left with the children,” Ughelumba explained.

“She only reached out in 2017 when my children needed Nigerian passports. I sent all my documents and bought their flight tickets. When they stayed with me then, I never told them anything negative about their mum. Since Calvin signed for a football club, she has completely cut me out.”

Calvin Bassey, who came through Leicester City’s academy, rose to prominence after joining Rangers in 2020, winning the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup. He later moved to Ajax for €23 million before joining Fulham in a €22 million deal.

The 26-year-old has earned 43 caps for Nigeria and played in the last two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. Early in his career, he used his father’s surname, Ughelumba, before later adopting his mother’s name—a decision he has publicly explained.

“He’s just not in my life. We lived with him when I was very young,” Bassey once said. “Since I was six, it has been mum and us boys. I knew that if I got the chance to put my name on the back of a shirt, I wanted it to be my mum’s name, my way of saying thank you.”

Ughelumba also spoke of failed attempts to reconnect, including trips from London to Leicester in 2020 and to Abidjan during the 2023 AFCON tournament.

“I have not seen my children for a long time,” he said. “Since then, I have been dying in silence. I have no issues with my children; it’s just their mum that has made things difficult. Even if I were a devil, I could never be a devil where my children are.”

As of the time of filing this report, Calvin Bassey had not publicly responded to his father’s statements.