For Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha, football may have made him a global icon — but the former Super Eagles captain says business would have been his path if the game hadn’t found him first.
In the latest edition of The Exchange Podcast with Femi Soneye, the midfield genius revealed that his upbringing in Enugu shaped both his creativity on the pitch and a natural instinct for enterprise.
“I would have been a businessman because of the environment I grew up in,” Okocha said. “That was what everyone around me did, so I’m sure I would have gone that way.”
Growing up in the coal city, Okocha’s football story began on the streets — dusty, improvised pitches where raw talent and imagination mattered more than structure. It was there, he said, that his extraordinary dribbling ability first came to life.
“I realized I could do a bit more than my friends when we were playing,” he recalled. “It didn’t take me long to develop new skills, and soon I was doing things others couldn’t.”
That natural flair soon became his signature. When he moved to Europe, Okocha found that many of his opponents — though technically sound — lacked the unpredictability and improvisation of street football. It made him stand out instantly.
“In Europe, it was easier for me to express myself because I had something different,” he said. “They were more structured, but I had that street instinct.”
Asked whether he ever felt sorry for defenders he routinely embarrassed with his dazzling footwork, Okocha laughed and gave a typically honest answer.
“I never pitied any of them,” he said with a grin. “In pidgin, I just tell people, I was selling my market!”
That phrase, a mix of humour and self-belief, perfectly sums up the man behind the legend — confident, charismatic, and unapologetically creative.
Over the years, Okocha’s artistry has earned him admiration far beyond Nigeria. Yet, beneath the fame, he remains the same street-smart Enugu boy who simply turned his gift into a global brand.
The podcast episode paints a vivid portrait of a player whose legacy transcends football — an entertainer, a thinker, and, as he might have been in another life, a successful businessman.
The full conversation with Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha is now streaming on The Exchange Podcast with Femi Soneye, offering laughter, insight, and a reminder of why his magic still endures.
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