Anambra Offers to Take Former Tennis Star, Tanya Okpalla, Off the Street

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Following the video of former Nigerian tennis star, Tanya Okpalla, which surfaced on social media at the weekend, Anambra State has offered to set in motion means to treat and rehabilitate her.

The half-caste former tennis star with an Igbo father and a Belarusian mother was shown in the video to be of unstable mind, roaming the streets of Awka aimlessly.

But in her swift reaction to the video, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hon. Ify Obinabo, sent out teams to try and track her. 

Hon. Obinabo hinted that her officials  have received valuable information of her movement and favourites joints she visits around Awka.

“Subsequently, I have sent out recce to some of the spots to see if they can track and take her in for treatments and rehabilitation,” hinted the Commissioner.

In her conversation with an unidentified man in the video, Tanya spoke eloquently and even recalled that she and the like of Jacqueline Okwueze were the star female players in the early 1990s and represented Nigeria and Africa in several tournament.

With a wound on her left leg, Tanya claimed to have been abandoned and labeled a prostitute by people in the areas she roam freely. She also stated that some make snide remarks about her being a half-caste and that she should return to her country. Tanya however considers herself an Igbo lady.

In conclusion of the conversation, she appealed for help saying that she is planning to return to her village the next day to care for her daughter.

Asked if she was on any form of treatment for her condition, she declined to answer, instead asking to be given a soda drink as she had only eaten donuts that day.