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Enyimba too fine
Kenneth Ugbechie
This
beautiful morning, I have sworn not to bore you with any serious government
business. And in case you don’t know it, this government is dead serious. All
its programmes are serious programmes. When government talks, it is all for some
very serious reasons. Just like this altercation between my best friends: Chief
Audu Ogbeh, ex-lecturer, ex-minister and current chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-military head of state
and current President and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic.
Can you imagine? Two parleys, team players
and bossom friends doing it on the pages on very irritating and over-bearing
Nigerian newspapers. I am aghast that my best pals could unsheathe their daggers
in the full view of everyone at the banquet without the courtesy of extending an
invitation to my uncle, Tony Anenih, as umpire.
Pray which Nigerian, living or dead, would
spurn the invitation to a match between Obasanjo and Audu Ogbeh inside the main
bowl of the Abuja stadium with Tony Anenih as referee? That indeed would be the
epic duel better experienced than imagined. Poor me, I’ve just let you into a
grand national proposal I am working on. By the time I am through with the paper
work, leg work and brain work, I would award the contract to Julius Berger to
organise a football match between Baba and Ogbeh. With Tony Anenih as centre
referee and 120 million Nigerians cramped inside the Abuja Stadium as witnesses,
it would be so easy after 90 minutes to establish who is the better dribbler,
joggler, ball teaser and tickler.
But before you start deluding yourself,
let me tell you the likely scenario. Baba who has been in terrific scoring form
lately would simply outclass Ogbeh, break his legs before pumping in a brace of
goals. And at the end of the game, Ogbeh would limp out of the pitch, his head
bowed, his eyes swollen and his face battered. Yes, Ogbeh would be dripping all
over with blood, tears and sweat for daring Baba. And why not? Nobody dares Baba
and gets away with it. Be you an Idoma or Tiv chief. Any man who pokes his
fingers into Baba’s fiery eyes would have them burnt.
Chikena!
Anyway, I’ve said I am under oath not to
discuss something as serious as Baba versus Ogbeh football match. I would rather
feast on unserious issues. Something as unserious as Enyimba Football Club of
Aba, Abia State winning the CAF Champions League a record back-to-back. This is
what unserious minds like us should concentrate on if only to escape, albeit
momentarily, the biting pangs of the trauma occasioned by the many matches Baba
has been playing with his aides, ministers, governors, the judiciary and the
legislature.
So Enyimba finally won the Champions
League? Indeed, we can’t ask for more. This is one cup that has eluded the
nation for over three decades. On several occasions, Nigerian clubs have come
very close to the cup, sniffed at it only for them to slither away at the last
minute. Not so with this Aba-based clubside which has in its short history
redefined club football in Nigeria.
To properly situate the Enyimba fairy
tale, it is apposite to dissect the anatomy of Nigerian football. Next to crude
oil, football may well be the foreign exchange cow for the nation. From Lagos to
Langtang, Yenagoa to Yelwa, this nation is awash with raw soccer talents. Men
and women who can tickle, tease and tap the round leather with guile, wile and
cunning gusto. Men and women richly endowed with soccer artistry, sophistry and
supreme suppleness. They abound in far flung peasant communities where any open
space qualifies for a make-shift stadium. They are to be seen in our secondary
schools and tertiary institutions, in Ajegunle and sundry suburbs strewn all
over the nation.
They are there in our domestic league
which the mandarins in the Ministry of Sports and the Nigeria Football
Association (NFA) have sworn to keep perpetually in ruins through systemic
under-development and mismanagement. And to further satiate their appetite for
the theatrical, they announced to the world that Nigeria now runs professional
football. No big deal except that in this brand of professional football, the
players are paid a laughable salary of N5000 per month. Even at that it is not
regular. Again, in this special breed of professional football, none of the
clubsides has a facility of its own - no stadium, no gym, no recreational
facility or any such luxury.
Yet it is from this hard and harsh
environment that Enyimba budded off to rule African football almost with a tinge
of indulgence. But victory did not come to Enyimba on the cheap. The Aba club
passed through the fire of intimidation and victimisation by both match
officials and fans of opposing teams. As defending champion, all these should be
expected. The most heart-thumping part of the Enyimba story was having to face
two North African sides in a row in the semi final and final. Yet the Aba boys
proved they are made of the sterner stuff. Some jinky runs, sublime strokes of
the ball and tensile grit saw them through on both occasions.
Today, Nigerians are basking in a blaze of
glory, the type only victory can bring. But even in our fit of rhapsodies, we
cannot but acknowledge the contributions of the Master Strategist, Orji
Uzor Kalu, the governor of Abia State. Kalu is that Aba brought-up who has
continued to prove both Harvard and Oxford wrong. These two great institutions
pride their certificates as the joker you need to turn any business around. But
Kalu has consistently proven them wrong. In business, he was a success. In
politics, he has been adept and adroit, displaying a near-magical mastery of the
game. And now in sports, Kalu has demonstrated that we can win with sports
particularly soccer. And he has been doing so - winning and winning against
odds. He has deployed his goodwill to build a synergy between Enyimba and his
colleagues especially the governors of Delta and Rivers State, James Ibori and
Peter Odili, two sports buffs who have immensely supported the team.
Indeed, we can win with sports. Kalu’s
legendary commitment to the Enyimba cause has handsomely paid off. Since last
Sunday when the Aba Boys grabbed the cup, Nigeria has been the better for
it, grabbing the headlines in major international media, this time not for some
sleazy, messy, smelly oily deal; not for electoral fraud but for the right
reason. A Nigerian clubside has won the CAF Champions League back-to-back, the
first African team to do so since the inauguration of the new continental
Champions league. The news was everywhere - CNN, Eurosports, SuperSport,
the Internet, you name it. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could have given the
nation such mileague, not even the N600 million image laundering project being
primitively pursued by the Ministry of Information.
Again, Kalu and his boys have added value
and flavour to this government that has since lost its savour. And they are the
richer for it. An eye-popping $950,000 dollars is what Enyimba would pocket for
their effort. I can’t be happier for these boys. But the one that hurts most is
the $50,000 CAF is dashing the NFA. I ask, for what? Our own NFA does not
deserve such honour. If you ask my opinion, I would rather the money be handed
over to Enyimba to re-grass the scorched and patchy Aba Stadium while a huge
chunk of the $950,000 would be used to expand and modernise the stadium complete
with gym and a recreational facility. This is a way to grow and develop the
sport and the team.
But please, don’t ask me to donate to your
liquor cabinet yet to celebrate the Enyimba victory. I have decided to shelve my
celebration until this Sunday. Reason? Well, I told you I’ve been working on a
project. Now, I’m through with it. I’ve just been able to arrange the epic match
between Baba and Ogbeh. The date is Sunday, December 19. Time 4.00 pm. The venue
remains the mysterious Abuja Stadium. My good uncle, Tony Anenih, has graciously
accepted to be the referee. And guess what? Adidas has just delivered Baba’s
jersey. It’s jersey No. 10 of course. There would be no jersey for Ogbeh. If he
likes, let him wear his Idoma traditional regalia. Who cares? All I know is that
on that day, Baba would trounce him roundly so that next time he would learn not
to write love letter to the no-nonsense captain of Aso Rock Football Club. Let
me warn that this match would not be telecast live so I expect to see you - 120
million Nigerians - inside the stadium. Please come and cheer Baba to victory.
Catch ya then!
My candid congratulations all the same to Enyimba.
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