Hello I'm Jeff itchin And you're listening to Outlook the program that takes you around the world through incredible personal stories today the life of a private detective in Paris a to boo busting singer from South Africa and working out at a gym for ex cons in Manhattan that's want to come. Now if you follow English football you'll probably have heard about fast guess today most is a bad joke he won promotion to the Premiership with a whole city that he then got injured and had to sit out the season but what you possibly don't know about him is how tough life was for him as a youngster growing up in south London the son of parents who moved to the u.k. From Nigeria it was 3 boys Moses was the youngest his middle brother Tom is also a professional footballer by the way place for Grimsby Town and then it was the linchpin of the family. My mom she won us the every think we're all doing taekwondo my brothers played instruments I learned piano they paid Trump is one played the trombone we were quite active kids growing up the idea was your mom wanted you to be rounded people she just wanted us to always you know have a have our options open and be good at a lot of things what kind of values do to instill in me she instilled a lot of free of us growing up you know the main thing was was to keep our family tie and we have to all work together are you very close to her no ruler because she basically raised us all our dad's of she left the picture pretty early in our lives and we kind of saw as a mum and dad at the same time what does she do for a living she was a sexual health advisor basically she had a clinic in south east London and that worked to your mama brought as well sometimes it took all over the place but mainly to the African countries and nearer to home where she was brought up in Nigeria and when you were 13 she went on a trip to Ghana what happened to her while she was in Ghana indeed went to Ghana for a sexual Roadshow with a couple of well colleagues. And she can track her malaria because she she grew up over there she felt she was immune to disease and that when the case when she came home from that trip what condition was she in sure that she's fine but she'd be coughing and stuff and she looked heavily ill and as the months went on It was like you know this is serious but to us brothers we didn't know the extent of the damage before our this is probably just a heavy cold you know unsure get over it was getting treatment. At the time she was getting little bit treatment but because she wasn't brought up in this country same old African parents they have a different philosophy to medication and there was full at the best medication is back home so where did she go then she went to Uganda what kind of treatment was this at the time we didn't know what she was going over to go and get and she was very religious at the time as well she was that they're going to pray for rain and the treatment should work so we just for Ok it's going to be in the trip in and she'll be back soon and what happened and that that wasn't the case and that was not was the last time you will push me saw or boarding the plane and my misstep at the time he got a phone call to say that obviously she's not going to be coming back because she's passed away how did he pass on the news to you it was it was very tough you know and it takes it takes guts you got called to the house and I was on my way to football funny enough unless I can it wait because of a game tonight I came back to the house and my 2 brothers were sat there and then I started speaking and he broke down and I'm on it took over in the nerves he told the news I think when she said that actually just if my soul left the room along with my brothers how long did you feel like that for I probably say all or not for that for about just just under a year but different people take things differently you know and I kind of sucked it in put a brave face on it I was more in shock I think than any think at the time but to say the soul was sucked out of you I mean it's strong language isn't it yeah it is very strong and I had I never fought at 1st seemed that I'd feel like that you know in just to feel emotionless emotionless as in terms of like I don't really want people to feel sorry for me so I'm not going to show that I'm hurt that I need help and I want help from other people so if I act like I'm strong and I'm tough then and if I pushed. Motions to the back and not no one's really going to know what's going on he said we just you know brothers Where was your dad your stepped out of that time my dad never a lot of us before she passed but at the time my step dad was there but he blamed himself and I think that sent him into hospital as well and after he came out you know we kind of just felt like we could we could reduce ourselves so there's you you're 13 years old how do you brothers a time for years apart so they were almost 16 I'm almost 19 and you're looking after yourself when I think about it now it's crazy but back then it just felt like a normality at times you know we were down to our last pennies and stuff so we had to make things stretch if we got money would be like Ok we have 20 pounds we need to get stuff that's going to last in the kitchen so if it was a big bag of pesto in a big tin of corn beef and sweet corn and fried out and it would go a long way and instead of putting money on the gas we would just put an extra jumper and an extra pair bottoms and go to sleep how come the authorities social services didn't pick up on the fact that these you know 3 young brothers were living together without a responsible adult in the house providing all made it difficult for them to pick up because she passed away brought their not notified that someone has died and at that time it felt like you know we're going to get through this together we didn't really want to be split up at the time why did you think it would be split up if you told anyone that happened to mom because Tom My middle brother he was an see at the age where he could look after me and that means that would have put me into into care and he would have even gone into a hospital or gone into care as well we had our Cajun days where we'd break our you know always we both of Sydney intimate sit down and you know this is hard but them days they weren't there very long you know we always try to get back up and try to stay as positive as possible what happened to schoolwork and to football. I took just under a year out of football just to clear my mind because when I was going training back then it kind of felt like you know I shouldn't be here it felt like must restore my shoulders and I weren't playing as good as I can play and if you think I was it was that football over for you as far as you were concerned as I was concerned it was over in terms of good professional not over in terms of I'm not going to just go to the park and play again because I did but professionally and want to chase the dream yeah for I felt it was over and you would spend the time that you would have been playing football doing what I've just been at home really you know and with my friends as you said it's used to not going to school as well at that time in your bunk with Scully you know there were days when I wouldn't want to go in and I didn't really want to face my friends ask me questions and so there were days when I would just stay home or we would go to the park and stuff and we would play football for hours how we were brothers getting on my oldest brother you know he I don't know if you heard but he went on a bad path at 19 where he was trying so hard to turn to provide for us he took the pressure on himself and put the pressure on the shoulders and that turned him into to doing as a senator for years in prison for armed robbery Ok What was he robbing at the time it was just household goods and he would sell them on and him he'd make money from them and in that money they make it bring home and he'd give it to me and Tom which is the middle brother and that's that's how we got by at times did you know how he was getting the money. So as I did time I didn't really know but it was only wasn't working that I had a feeling that it wasn't the right way of getting the money when he came out you know he said straight away that I've learned a lot from the mistakes and and even when he was in me was writing to me you know saying that prison is a waste of time anyone who wants to come to these places is silly he said he never wants to go back there again so I was trying to keep you on the straight No I think you know and me and my little brother we learnt from that we learnt from that a lot so is that the point when you thought you needed to get back to school and playing football again and thinking about the future yet that that was the that was the day when when that when I read that letter you know. And funny enough for a week after that is when I saw the mill coach down the High Street and before someone passed I was I was training with Miller and I was on trial there explain to him the full story and that was when I was lucky enough to be invited back down did it feel good to be back on the pitch again yeah it felt it felt great and I was I was getting rewarded I was playing with that with the kids in the year above in school and I was playing with the kids you above mill so it felt like you know my dream is back on and this is this is kind of what I needed like a kick in the right direction and I'm going to grab it and you did and. They trained with Millwall you went like Nori and they gave us you know position in the senior team and things were going really well get picked up by a championship team bent for it and then a team which is aiming for the premiership Hellcity very quick progression what was driving you all that time. I think the story's there for itself you know my mom even though she's not here that every death will actually drowse me to to want to be great to want to do more and look at my brother's as well as I was moving through to teams and things were getting easier and easier just felt like you know I wanted to be a day where they don't need to. About things anymore I think that's what pushes me to this day yeah so Hellcity un promotion with them to the Premiership. Well what was that feel like. I haven't really couldn't have been asked this question so many times but I can't describe how much of a relief it felt like when that final whistle went and to realise that I'm going to be a Premiership footballer it was only to about 2 months after that game I sat down and realise you know I'm going to be standing along the likes of you start from Chelsea you start from Arsenal going to be in that same category the same league and it's still which even though I'm going to probably tell my kids my grandkids and their kids about how do you celebrate on a night the team celebrated you went back to the hotel you know and family members came and met the man you did a speech and a knowledge or a speech just to say thank you to everyone because it was a tough year on and off the pitch they are me and my government flew out to the buy for for fingers and we could just 10 days went there for actually every difference reaching 10 beans and corn isn't it yeah it is you know and I feel that that's what pushed me you know to never settle and always want to reach the top yeah. So I mean you're on this tremendous high facing a season of Premiership football and you get a knee injury before the season begins which rules you out playing for months that you're still not playing how did you deal with that disappointment. So as I said for 6 months you know and I just thought this is another obstacle I'm going to I'm just going to overturn that easily and it wasn't until I had a reoccurrence when I slipped in training when the realization hit me that you know this is important like this is a big think there were days where I woke up and for you know what this is for I've got no purpose I'm not going to train and that's when it starts to. Chip away at me mentally and only really hit me when I did it in the view for premier world and I share my story what I did exactly as they always listened to them back sometimes paraquat it and watched it and only me realize you know how far I've come you know and what I've overcome and once I watched that I just said to myself I've just got to keep going and the how long it takes takes but I'll reach my angle because he mom's voice and I are at that point I could just picture it just saying look it may take you 2 years it may take you one year make it 2 weeks but however long it takes you will get for and it will all be worth it in the end. It's room had that you earn 40000 pounds a week how city is that right I think having that room is I wish I wish and 40000 but like I said you know it is a short career and one that I do want to own now and I do want to own 10 times more than that how do you keep close these days I've got my arm out of his rest in peace mom and and also around the house I've got a lot of those She's basically looking over us that's that's how we see it and when I do go back to London I always try and go to the cemetery and often as I can you're all about the time is a footballer to any place for Grimsby yet to go and watch him play Yeah I've been to a couple games last season because I was injured I was trying not to because he likes when I go because I'm critical on his game and you're the older of your brothers the one who went to jail What's he doing now he just opened up a coffee shop in Preston So he's he's back and forth from there and he's a he's a full time engineer now as well so I'm glad to see that he's turned his life around you know he's doing the best he can do you get the family close like you know what I wanted. We just see it as just as free we do things for one another you know when we speak to each other every day or week our relationship is probably the closest ever been. Mises has an ambassador for no more malaria u.k. And donates money every year on the anniversary of his mom's death. Still to come on out look inside one of France's oldest private detection agencies and the p.r.i. Has gone to extreme lengths for homework really is but before that we're off to South Africa to meet a singer who's broken as to boo he is or fencing Moroccan and a multi award winning musician one of the country's biggest selling artists but what's unusual about him is that he sings in Afrikaans which for a long time was the language of the white ruling class and it's highly unusual for a young black person to use it but refence a is making the language a bit trendy outlooks and he went to me to. Add a very cool childhood farm boy grew up on the farm and yeah very very lively presence of music in my life I was seen quiet since I was great to or since I can remember actually dogs thing and performing goofy guy from the song Garden. Hose the song. My parents don't speak of your gods actually they don't understand a word I say most of it's I but they used to play every God's music for me to teach me how to speak Afrikaans and to pronounce it that's why I fell in love with the average in music in the language as a result of that I express myself based in Africa. Kind of goofy I've done my song. So you come from a family of educated people oh yeah people who believe in education rather than near a school was. Based near a school is a tough record school and at 1st it was just a thing that's going to. I was going to be in the school just until but Grade 3 then I moved to an English medium we moved to that city or town and when they saw how I enjoyed being in this Afrikaans school and how I quickly related to immediately just settled in they decided to keep me you know if we go on school and I think that was the best decision that they've made in my life. I was watching interview on day at my school and at the back I was dancing while watching the children on stage so the teacher called me up and said to the so I'm going to come join us then I joined them and I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want to get off stage so since then I've been addicted to looking into the faces of a crowd but it was a chance meeting that gave his real break in music. I was playing guitar my house is red and the lady passed just as she could record me and upload on Facebook and I was like Ok we're done both before but it's cool it's do it my. Plans. But. I thought it's a very funny way of introducing yourself to somebody because I didn't know the lady at 1st. I didn't think much of it I thought maybe it's going to be uploaded on Facebook in 2 or 3 people see it and there's likely to be a problem so let's just do it why not. But they didn't when I saw the result was something completely different. The video went viral and within 24 hours it had been watched over 160000 times what was your reaction how did you feel when you saw that as the following day it was very funny to me because I remember looking at the likes running like it cause I don't eat it but I enjoyed it so much and it meant that people want to hear me so obviously this is a plot form where I can be heard and I took it with both hands and held on to it very tight. From the fences popularity I started performing at readings people just in books me on Facebook and say hey do you want to come perform as like I love it because and I had never performed before so I didn't even have material I didn't have a repertoire I was just you know freeing it and I went to a festival a big festival and I would do it in called the Kakodkar. And that's where the recording company saw me and only a year off because I was doing school the time and only a year after that when I finished Maciek I signed with David and we started this charity that recording company was Sony refence began recording his debut album and within 3 months of its release it went gold platinum and then double platinum. He felt. The need for. You to. I was thinking of recording songs was in the song city songs you know just very South African with. A few mates. It's. A very South African repertoire but 4 decades ago the census music would probably have hit a lot of young black South Africans in 1976 many rebelled against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in public schools mosques demonstrations turned violent and hundreds of people lost their lives yet today and offensive is a voice that reflects a new and progress of South Africa I think if anything it's just approval that there is progress in South Africa and people are starting to appreciate and love one another for whatever they are and whatever they do so frequency is a language just like. This is so to. Be so it's all South African languages and I think it deserves a platform to be heard as well just as loud as all of the other languages so I'm happy that I have the platform to be able to fight that war that I'll never win but fighting it is the journey for me how do you Piers feel about this well I've always been my friends favorite party trick and it always call somebody and let me speak of records with him over the phone and when the person gets here it's a black man like what's going on here so you know they've always took pride in it and I don't think they choose it for themselves but they appreciate me doing it because they acknowledge that that's my perspective of life and I don't I'm not respect of race or even language barriers so. Perhaps you and I may have embraced nonracial ism but when you look at our country in the news you see very depressing stories about racism. Black and white white and black black on black white on white . How do you feel about that I'm very hopeful about South Africa and I'm very positive I think even if I'm not here when it happens but one day it will happen we you walk in the streets and you