Singer, Charles Chibuezechukwu, better known as Crayon, has revealed how corruption in Nigeria killed his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

The 22-year-old said after he went for screening at the National Stadium, he was replaced by someone from a wealthy family that has connections.

The Mavin Records artiste also revealed that he was depressed in 2015 because he couldn’t get into the university like all his friends.

Crayon stated this in a recent interview with Cool FM Nigeria in Lagos.

His words: “I became depressed in 2015 because I couldn’t get into the university. All my friends were in school. At that time I was really close to my friends. I was the youngest among my friends. Every time they are around is always fun. Then they all got admitted to the universities in Ghana, Benin, etc. I was just me in the hood.

“It was so boring. I didn’t have anything to do, nowhere to go. And my footballing career at that time wasn’t really kicking off for me as well. I used to play football. I used to be a proper footballer. They called me ‘Coutinho’ in my hood. You know prime Coutinho who played for Liverpool.

“I tried to become a professional footballer but it didn’t work out for me because football in Nigeria is quite dicey. There is a lot of corruption. I don’t want to mention names because it might hurt some people. They are big names; top officials.

“At a time I went for one screening in Surulere, they picked me and they had to like swindle me and pick someone else because the person had money and connections. So, at that point, I became disappointed. I went home depressed.”