By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE

Even in death, many think that Pele of Brazil is the same as Abedi Pele of Ghana and vis a vis.

This is because of the grace that followed both men in the field of soccer.

Then again, I have held his name as Pele oblivious he had another name just as he had African and Portuguese ancestry of which the Western media would only want to mention Brazil.

Apart from football, Pele who was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in Minas Gerais, Brazil, also was an international humanitarian.

He was given the name Pelé during his school days because of his poor pronunciation of his demigod in football regarded as local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé.

However, he kicked against the name Pele, but checks revealed that as much as the name angered him, people were not given to letting him be.

He was incessantly called Pele, perhaps, as one of the racial spites, that the so-called whites graced Africans they enslaved all over the world with.

While that lasted, little did they know at the time that Pele was not just a name to cajole the football legend but a Hebrew name given to male children that translates to Miracle, Wonder.

And Pele became a Miracle and Wonder in the history of the soccer he played very well. Apart from being a Hebrew name, sources have it that Pele was one of the “six daughters and seven sons born to Haumea (the Earth goddess) and Kane Milohai (creator of the sky, earth and heavens), came to Hawai’i after being exiled from Tahiti by her father because of her temper.”

Whichever, Pele, no matter the angles of the definitions lived up to being a wonder and miracle to soccer. Also, Abedi Ayew Pelé who’s a Ghanaian football (soccer) player, the grace that followed his namesake from Brazil followed him.

Born Nov. 5, 1964, Ghana, Abedi was regarded as the only man to have won the African Player of the Year award three consecutive times (1991–93). King Pele of Brazil won world cup three times.

Today, Pele of Brazil is gone in flesh but not in our memories, while history beckons May 13, 1888 when Brazilian Princess Isabel of Bragança signed Imperial Law number 3,353, called the “Golden Law,” that abolished slavery in all its forms in the pieces of legislation in Brazilian history.

•Odimegwu Onwumere writes from Obigbo, Rivers State.