Former Super Falcons Player Appeals for N69.7m to Become Father

James Johnson, formerly known as Iyabo Abade and an ex-player of the Nigerian women’s national football team, the Super Falcons, is seeking N69.7 million to fund a corrective surgery that will enable him to father children.

Johnson, who is a confirmed hermaphrodite, played for the Super Falcons between 1997 and 2000 before undergoing a sex change operation in the United States in 2004. This surgery was sponsored by then-Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, after several failed attempts to address the condition led to his exclusion from the women’s team.

Hermaphroditism, a condition where an individual has both male and female reproductive organs, is rare in humans. Johnson, now 40, has expressed a deep desire to complete the final stages of his transition and fulfill his dream of fathering children. He revealed that he had written to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) last year requesting financial assistance for the surgery but has yet to receive a response.

“Anytime I think that I can’t father a child, I feel broken. That’s why I wrote to the federation for financial assistance. The NFF president Ibrahim Gusau is a man with a listening ear, and I hope that through him, the federation can help me achieve my dream,” Johnson said.

In his letter titled “Appeal for financial assistance to enable me finalise my surgery of transforming from an intersex person (male and female organs – hermaphrodite) to a full-fledged man so that I can father a child,” Johnson detailed his need for the funds to complete the final two phases of his surgery.

The letter, dated April 4, 2023, reads, “My President, I am using this medium to passionately appeal to you for God and humanity’s sake, to use your good office to assist me financially to enable me to travel to the United States of America where I did the 1st and 2nd phases of surgery (Midway Hospital Medical Centre, Los Angeles) for the surgery and treatment of the 3rd and 4th phases of my transformation to a full-fledged man so that I can father children. The total cost of the surgery and treatment is one hundred and sixty thousand dollars ($160,000), equivalent to sixty-nine million seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (N69,750,000:00).”

Johnson, who was raised as a female, recounted how he excelled in football, earning a spot on the Super Falcons in 1997. However, a subsequent test revealed his hermaphroditic condition, which led to his removal from the team. Following his initial surgeries, he continued his football career with various clubs, including NEPA Football Club of Abuja and Plateau United of Jos, but faced discrimination and humiliation.

Johnson remains hopeful that the NFF will respond to his plea and provide the necessary support for him to complete his transformation and achieve his dream of becoming a father.