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Calvin Bassey’s Father Begs for Reconciliation After 18 Years: “Please Forgive Me”

The estranged father of Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has made an emotional appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation, nearly 18 years after losing contact with his children following the collapse of his marriage. Eyes Of Lagos reports,

Speaking in a widely circulated interview on social media, Mr. Ughelumba, who hails from Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State, said he has endured years of silence and heartbreak while hoping for a chance to reunite with his son.

According to him, his first three sons — Elvis, Mathew and Calvin Ughelumba — were born in Italy, while his youngest son, Michael, was born in Ireland. The family later relocated to London, where marital challenges eventually led to separation.

Ughelumba explained that the separation occurred after unresolved marital disagreements, adding that the situation escalated suddenly while he was away at work.

“We had normal husband-and-wife issues. I went to work, and before I returned, she had left with the children,” he said.

He disclosed that communication remained completely severed for years until 2017, when his estranged wife allegedly reached out because the children required Nigerian passports.

“That was the first time she contacted me after many years. I sent all my documents and even paid for their flight tickets. When they stayed with me, I never spoke badly about their mother,” he stated.

He claimed that contact was cut off again after Calvin secured a professional football contract.

Ughelumba revealed that he has made several attempts since 2020 to reconnect with his children, particularly Calvin, but all efforts ended unsuccessfully.

He recalled travelling from London to Leicester during the COVID-19 lockdown in a bid to see his son when he was still with Leicester City.

“I wasn’t going there because he was a footballer. I just wanted to see my son,” he said.

According to him, officials of Leicester City assisted in reaching Calvin, who initially responded warmly.

“They called him by the childhood name I used to call him — ‘Biggy’ — and he responded immediately.”

However, the meeting reportedly ended abruptly after Calvin contacted his mother.

“He told me to say whatever I wanted to say and leave. He said he didn’t want to see me again,” Ughelumba recounted.

He further disclosed that he travelled from Italy to Côte d’Ivoire during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in another attempt to reconnect, and later moved to Abuja to pursue the matter, but was unsuccessful.

Calvin Bassey began his professional career at Leicester City before moving to Rangers FC in 2020, where he made over 60 appearances and won the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup.

In 2022, he completed a record €23 million transfer to Ajax, before returning to the English Premier League in 2023 with a €22 million move to Fulham.

The 26-year-old defender made his Super Eagles debut in 2022 and has since become a regular member of the national team, featuring at two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Earlier in his career, Bassey was listed under his father’s surname, Ughelumba, but later adopted Bassey, his mother’s name.

The footballer has publicly credited his mother for raising him and his siblings, stating that she played a central role in his journey.

“Since I was six, it has been just my mum and us boys,” Bassey once said.
“Putting her name on my shirt was my way of saying thank you.”

Speaking emotionally, Ughelumba said he harbours no resentment toward his children and pleaded for forgiveness.

“I have no problem with my children. Even if I am a devil, I cannot be a devil where my children are,” he said.

“I have been dying in silence, but I am still praying for peace.”

As of the time of filing this report, Calvin Bassey has not publicly reacted to his father’s renewed appeal.

https://eyesoflagos.com/2026/01/27/calvin-basseys-father-begs-for-reconciliation-after-18-years-please-forgive-me/

I knew that Igbo blood runs in Calvin. Please he should make peace with his dad before the old man dies.

Nothing pains a man more than finding himself in a situation like Calvin's father.

FEAR WOMEN.

Orlandoo:
I knew that Igbo blood runs in Calvin. Please he should make peace with his dad before the old man dies.

Not a new knowledge, from his days at Rangers we football fans knew he's an Igbo. He should make peace with his father with his mother's consent, meaning the father should first reconcile with his ex-wife first, by so doing he will have a soft landing. If they don't accept, man should move on with his life, na the children go later regret because you will one day think deep about it

The woman has poisoned the mind of the children. But how did this man stay so far away from his children for so long?

Their mother is probably the reason the children are yet to reconcile with their father. But I want to believe the father and mother are now old enough to understand they can't hold their grudges forever at the expense of the children.

lwisee:
Nothing pains a man more than finding himself in a situation like Calvin's father.

FEAR WOMEN.

People lie. Men lie, women lie over everything. We must hear the wife's side of the story and the Calvin side of the story to shook mouth for this obviously family matter.

If Calvin has not be successful would the father frantically make attempt to reconnect with him?

She has successfully brainwashed the 4 boys against their father only contacting him when she needed to get Nigeria passports for them after many years of hiding them away from him. That gender get mind oo.

Unfortunately for the man he has no daughters with his former wife who can convince her brothers to give their father a chance in their lives by reconnecting with him.
Now we can understand why Churchill is so happy with Tonto Dike repentance and reconnecting him with their son who was hidden far from him for 10 years.

Calvin Bassey Ughelumba please its time to give your father a chance in your life, listen to his own side of the story, calling your mother asking for permission to meet your father is not the way to go

The mother even changed their surnames to Bassey. Chai.

The papa get money self, he just need that son and father bond WOMEN WOMEN WOMEN.

If he wasn't doing well, would he (father) have begged for reconciliation?

She even changed the surname,I used to think this guy is from calabar o,They should forgive the father for peace sake

A broken marriage is never good on the children, do you know Calvin basseys brother is one of hardest gangsters in the UK, imagine going astray because there's no father figure.

Brendaniel:
I've always wondered why he bears his mother's name instead of his father's name, he is an Igbo boy, but he is bearing his mother's Calabar surname, I suspected something was off, I just confirmed it.

Oron surname. The mother hails from Oron in Akwa Ibom. Women have prowess in manipulation. Tonto Dike realized the danger she has been causing in the life of her son and mended the relationship with her ex-husband.

I feel bad for the man

Some people sha, they can go to the extreme to make people hate you just because they have disagreement with you

I've experienced it firsthand from both genders

Only an evil woman will deny children relationship with their father. It doesn't matter what the man did, so long as he is still willing to remain in the life of his children, the wife has no right stopping him. She even went as far as changing their surnames to hers.

That said, the father's story should be taken with a pinch of salt. Did he approach the courts regarding custody or the courts mandating that the wife allows him spend time with his kids?

Dogalmighty17:
Only an evil woman will deny children relationship with their father.

Evil,manipulative and bitter women.

As a father I will always fight for my kids. I wont now show up when they have made it without me

lwisee:
Nothing pains a man more than finding himself in a situation like Calvin's father.

FEAR WOMEN.

I agree with you 1000%


Fear is an understatement


Dread Women

I be think say Igbo men no dey treat women anyhow

Baba, you messed up no doubt. But you’re still their father. For now, leave the boys alone; they’re closer to their mother. He won’t fully reason like a man until he gets married. You’d be better off enjoying your life and letting go of all this “my son, my son” talk things can never be the same again.

omoredia:
As a father I will always fight for my kids. I wont now show up when they have made it without me

What if it's the mother pushing him away from them?

skywalker240:
What if it's the mother pushing him away from them?

Then he should be pushed out finally cos if Calvin Bassey was a drug addict today he will not be asking to see him

What is igbo blood about being a footballer? Is messi igbo? You no geh sense

Orlandoo:
I knew that Igbo blood runs in Calvin. Please he should make peace with his dad before the old man dies.

Awon my children will look for me when they're grown up, shey una dey see how e dey go?

The old man should spare us the sob stories jare. What efforts did he make over the years to reach out to his boys? 2008 was not that far away, there were telephones, emails and travel within European countries us very convenient. How many times did he go and check up on them? If he wanted to, he would have found a way.

Calvin was 8 when his parents separated, the dad thinks him and his brothers didn't understand what was going on leading to the separation? Children observe and understand more than you give them credit for. Besides why is it only Calvin he's running after, are Mathew and Mathias not also his sons?

Whenever a man says him and his wife separated over marital issues without deep-diving into what the wife did, just know that he's 101% at fault.

Guyman02:
She has successfully brainwashed the 4 boys against their father only contacting him when she needed to get Nigeria passports for them after many years of hiding them away from him. That gender get mind oo.

Unfortunately for the man he has no daughters with his former wife who can convince her brothers to give their father a chance in their lives by reconnecting with him.
Now we can understand why Churchill is so happy with Tonto Dike repentance and reconnecting him with their son who was hidden far from him for 10 years.

Calvin Bassey Ughelumba please its time to give your father a chance in your life, listen to his own side of the story, calling your mother asking for permission to meet your father is not the way to go

Have you watched that movie half brothers?

Women are something else

If only young men knew how women manipulate and weaponize their children against their father… if only Calvin knew, he’d have calmed down to listen to this man’s plea.

I personally had to apologize to my own father last year for being used as a tool against him by my mother. Scales that have been on my face for over two decades fell off when stories were not consistent anymore and I had to start looking deeper and asking questions. I feared women instantly after.

Calvin, try to listen to your father. She’s your mother, yes, but it doesn’t make her an angel that can’t lie.

lwisee:
Nothing pains a man more than finding himself in a situation like Calvin's father.

FEAR WOMEN.

Obviously, their mother manipulated the situation in her favor and made it known to them ( Children ) their father was useless.

But Calvin should've known better by now, he's a man for God's sake. He should know what Women are capable of doing.

omoredia:
Then he should be pushed out finally cos if Calvin Bassey was a drug addict today he will not be asking to see him

Okay

Let any of us not be in such situations, been shut out completely out of life of your spawn's deliberately, is a kind of dead alive situationi