"I guess one could say that it all began on a bitter cold winter morning in 2009. I was on my way with a friend to pickup her father who was due to arrive into Heathrow airport in just a few hours on a flight from Accra (Ghana). He had been described to me as an elderly gentleman who was not without his fare share of eccentricities and lived much of the time in Ghana only visiting the UK occasionally on business.

So I found myself still not fully awake, waiting at a Heathrow airport arrivals gate watching weary travellers emerging from customs into arrivals each peering over at the group of cab drivers, expectant families & chauffeurs that had congregated around us.

Eventually, a lively yet diminutive African gentleman came into view, although one could see that he was of somewhat advanced years, his skin was a rich dark brown, he moved in a very spritely fashion. I eyes which possessed a natural sparkle lit up and he flashed a broad white smile as he recognized his daughter who stood next to me.

After an enthusiastic greeting during which I was introduced and the details of the trip had been conveyed, we headed back to the car with our new guest, who, despite his age coupled with the fact that he was only wearing a cotton shirt & cravat did not seem to feel the intense cold as we crossed the concourse to where we had parked the car a while earlier.

Little did I know that as we drove back to Wembley that day the mercurial Mr Akoto would speak of something which would change the course of my life forever… "