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If skipping through your emails you notice a title: "D Ismailov, forward this to your dad. This is important" marked from Nigeria, what would you think first? D Ismailov is my son and naturally I worried that he was involved in some dodgy affair. But when I read the message, slowly and surely I understood why it came via my son's name. My website states that it was created and maintained by D Ismailov, and there's a "Contact" button on the page which forwards messages to my email address. That was the explanation of the headmaster-type appeal to my son. Here's the email itself:

Good day, Mr Ismailov,

Hope all is well and you are in good stead? And you are enjoying your trip in Nigeria. I should have thought about meeting you earlier than yesterday but I hope we do meet in the future. I heard your interview some weeks ago on the Strand and Newshour when you talked about your new role as an in-house writer. I do write a lot and I hope we do meet in the future.

Last year, I composed a poem on the World Cup on the African continent. Attached to this mail is the poem. I have composed over 270 poems and I intend to publish them in the future that is soon.

Happy reading,
Dolapo Aina,
Lagos, Nigeria.

Here's a fragment from the poem:

Teams' formations, players' simulations, kicks and feigned injuries,
Suspense fills the arena for self-induced penalties,
Opinions differ, one more scene for the video clips of controversies.
The time ticks, the atmosphere is tense,
The action packed game is intense,
The overhead kick brings out no silence
The final whistle ushers in screams, tears, joy and cheers,
Africa would celebrate for many more years,
For the VUVUZELAS would continue to ring in our ears.

Now we are off to Lagos before flying later in the day back to London, and I'll try to meet Dolapo for a cup of tea. Even if I don't find him, this story is a natural end to my trip to West Africa, since I came here to talk about football, and to connect with our listeners, readers, viewers... and now our friends.