Nezi Wesonga

One of the first friends I made who was my senior was Nesbitt Wesonga whom we simply called “Nezi.” He was a year ahead of me in Kirk.

Nesbitt was very ambitious and already knew many stories about the sports legends of Lenana who had come before us. One name kept on popping up again and again in his stories—Jacko Omaido. I even believe Nezi’s run on the pitch ended up having many similarities to Jacko’s very famous one. I did not know it at the time but I would later not only see the legend himself in action but would practice with him at Harlequins and then even tour with him out of the country at least twice. Others he mentioned were Nick Kado an extraordinary full back who was a prominent Tuskers player when he was still a school boy and was one of the most powerful and respected head of schools ever. Nezi is also the person from whom I first heard of the name Pare Mukora, one of the most stylish fly halves Lenana has ever birthed who was also a great goal kicker and played a major role in Mean Maroon’s amazing Eric Shirley win in 1977. These stories from Nesbitt so early on are what triggered so much ambition in me to be up there with the very best and just maybe join the legends of Lenana one day.

Later I would go up school and stare at the old photos of some of these stars telling myself that they went through worst and there was no reason why I could not do the same. As coincidence would have it my dad later moved to Parklands when I was in second form where Nesbitt was my neighbor and I occasionally visited him at his home during school holidays. I saw his big secret soccer practice technique that gave him such extra-ordinary control of the ball as a sweeper. It was a simple big wall that he kicked the ball against at different tricky angles.

We played together with Nesbitt in many teams over the years until I could instinctively know what he was going to do in a critical moment of a game long before he did it which would always give our team the edge. It all culminated in the legendary 1982 unbeaten Prescott team. Much has been said about that side but it is rather unfair that everybody so far has ignored or forgotten to mention the role played by the skipper in moulding that amazing winning outfit. Nesbitt was always very cool under extra ordinary pressure and knew how to get the very best from his players. He was especially good at keeping the team’s concentration when we were ahead and relaxation was setting in or when we were abut to despair after things went wrong. I can still hear his “come on guys.”

Nesbitt was crazy about Lingala music especially in the early years and after setting the table as a second former on serving duty he would belt out the Lingala hits of the time. His great looks also served him well during social functions where despite his shyness he would always manage to attract plenty of female attention. I really envied him there.