Ejuke Explains His Connection To Dutch-Born Heerenveen Midfielder Courted By Nigeria

Chidera Ejuke has revealed that he has a close connection to Heerenveen's Hamdi Akujobi because of the midfielder's Nigerian heritage.

Born in Rotterdam, Akujobi has pledged his international future to Nigeria and was named to the country's provisional roster for last year's FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland.

"For him he has not been to Nigeria a lot though but the connection just came instantly when I came, mostly because he was the one helping around, trying to show me some things as well so it was easy to communicate," Ejuke told Heerenveen's official YouTube page. 

Ejuke detailed how he communicates with Akujobi in Nigerian pidgin, a form of English spoken in Nigeria.

"It's English actually but it's a bit different because we call it the broken English so you don't say the things directly like I speak now.

"It's a mixture of words sometimes which don't even have meaning if you come to think of it.

"I can just yell, 'Hamdi wetin you dey do there?', he understands what I mean, it is the same thing as what are you doing there? It's English but in a different form," Ejuke explained. 

While Ejuke recorded 29 appearances in his first season in the Netherlands and was involved in 16 goals (10 goals, 6 assists), Akujobi made three appearances off the bench in the Eredivisie.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel