Ighalo was only 17 when he left Nigeria, but he never forgot his roots. In the Club World Cup, Ighalo played for Saudi Arabia Al Hilal, scoring a wonderful goal against Chelsea.
However, the victory or defeat of this match is not too suspenseful but significant, and Ighalo donated all the proceeds of this game to an orphanage in his hometown. There were more than 40 children and some widows, all of whom were relatives of Ighalo.
In December 2017, the Ighalo Orphanage opened in AIjegun, a humble suburb in northern Lagos, Nigeria's capital, where he is home, "life here is tough, and I vowed that if I succeed, I will give back to the place where I was born and raised me," the 32-year-old veteran said on the foundation's website. ”
"It goes without saying that the orphans are in a worse situation and I'm happy that I'm in pretty good shape right now, which gives me the opportunity to be a beacon in their lives." It is reported that Ighalo spent 500 million Nigerian naira (about 1 million pounds) to build the house.
In the orphanage in Ighalo, more than 40 children are accommodated. Even more intimately, Ighalo also offers separate apartments for boys and girls. He took the children with him and promised to take care of them until they turned 18, when they were in the orphanage where they could be trained in learning and sports.
The walls of the orphanage are orange with a striking sign on it, and a player kneels on the ground and raises his arms to the sky to celebrate the goal, which is exactly how Ighalo celebrates. "I want to change their lives, it's the right path."
Before opening the orphanage, Ighalo was also helping through many ways, always sending most of his salary back to Nigeria to help children living below the poverty line and women who had lost their husbands. "
Every month I would send them money home because I was the child who came out of poverty. I send money to the children, money to the school, and care for about 45 widows who don't have a husband and life is not easy. ”
During his time at Changchun Yatai, Ighalo's annual salary exceeded 10 million euros, and after transferring to Shanghai Shenhua, he could also earn 7 million yuan a year, but the good life did not make Ighalo lost, he used this money to do a lot of charity, "I know what it is like to have nothing." ”