According to a video posted on Global Football Insight YouTube channel on Friday October 23, 2026, former Super Eagles player Sunday Oliseh said he has never tasted alcohol or cigarettes. He spoke about his childhood in an interview on the channel’s podcast. He described himself as a shy boy who kept to himself and was often different from the people around him.

Oliseh said that in secondary school he played football with classmates who liked to smoke and drink. He said they teased him because he did neither. They also told him his eyes were too white, while theirs were red.

In his words, Sunday Oliseh said, "Till today, I don’t know what alcohol tastes like. I don’t know what cigarettes taste like. And these guys always took turns teasing me that I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. And my eyes were too white, because their eyes were red,” he said.

Oliseh said the teasing was non-stop because the classmates were trying to bring him into their group. He said some of them are dead now, from what he has heard. He used the example to advise young people not to follow others.

He said followers are people who die first, and urged young people to map out their own path. He said that if he had put even one cigarette in his mouth, his lungs would not have been able to stand what a football career required. He thanked God for giving him the wisdom to say no and said he did not want to take the credit alone.

Oliseh added that his determination showed early. He said his father told him never to play football, yet he kept going in spite of the spanking and punishment. He said that determination is what feeds him today.

**Watch headline quotes from (00:31:19 - 00:31:24).: