National Awards Govt unfair to Enyimba, Anyansi – Odegbami

Posted by admin Headlines Sunday, November 20th, 2011

By JOE APU
Sunday, November 20, 2011

Anyansi
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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The National Merit Award was held in Abuja last Monday amid pump and ceremony. In fact, it was a roll call of who is who in the country. The awardees beaming with smiles on that day, came out one after the other to collect their awards from President Goodluck Jonathan.

For the recipients, the occasion was one of reverence and satisfaction.
The sporting community had a share among the awardees as the astute football administrator, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima and Super Eagles’ captain, Joseph Yobo were honoured.

But while many have applauded the recognition of those two sports personalities, there’re also questions why some key sports figures were omitted in the list of the awardees.

A former recipient of national award, the ‘Mathematical’ Segun Odegbami, while speaking on the awards on Thursday, said that if the terms of recognition for the award was based on achievement, then Enyimba International Football Club of Aba, the first Nigerian club side to win the CAF Champions League after 39 years of struggle, deserves to be honoured.

“A club like Enyimba International of Aba, which through the efforts and support of the former Abia State governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, broke the jinx of the Champions League, truly deserve to be honoured,” Odegbami said.

“I recall that in 1980, when we lifted the African Cup of Nations for the very first time since Nigeria started to participate in the championship, the federal government recognised and honoured us with the national merit award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) and gave everyone of us a Peugeot car and a house in Festac Town for our achievement. I think it is necessary for government to also reward Enyimba because that club not only won the trophy in 2003, but went ahead to win it again in 2004. That’s a record worthy of recognition,” he stated.

Odegbami, also noted that other individuals like Coach Fanny Amun and the late Yemi Tella, among others have also been so recognised and therefore, called on government to give honour to those who deserve it.
“There should be a standard process of identifying those who merit awards either as individuals or as a group. Those who worked tirelessly for Enyimba to reach the zenith deserve to be honoured as well. Though, I recall that in 1980, when we won the African Nations Cup, not everyone who was part of the team was given the national merit award, others like coaches and officials were honoured. So, people who toiled for Enyimba to come this far should not be left out.”

The former Eagles’ captain, however, noted that the process of nomination, defence and recognition of sports personalities for awards should be left in the hands of stakeholders in sports. Enyimba FC has won two African Champions League titles, six Nigerian championships and two Federation Cups since 2001. Enyimba’s luck began to shine in 1999, when Orji Uzor Kalu was elected governor of Abia State in the first democratic elections held in the country after several years of military rule. Kalu then proceeded to ensure generous funding for the local team and appointed Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu as the new chairman of the club, who in turn appointed Godwin Koko Uwa as the club’s first coach in the new era.

Chief Agwu took the task of turning Enyimba around and within 11 years of his administration as chairman of the club, amassed 23 trophies for the Aba side. In all of this, he got recognition from different bodies as the Best Club Manager, Administrator of the Year and several others. Enyimba also had its first appearance in a continental competition in the 2002 CAF Champions League. Due to the lack of a good playing ground at its base in Aba, the club played its home matches in Calabar, a neighbouring town, and the capital of Cross River State. After winning the first round tie against Etoile Filante Ouagadougou 5-3 on aggregate, it was knocked out in the second round by the 1998 champion, ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire.

The club went on to win its second successive Nigerian title in 2002 and then became the first Nigerian club to win the continent’s premier international club competition in the 2003 CAF Champions League by beating Ismaily of Egypt 2-1 on aggregate under Coach Kadiri Ikhana.

This was also the first time since 1988 that a Nigerian club had reached the final of the competition. Enyimba then successfully defended the title and won its second consecutive African Champions League title in 2004, beating Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel in the finals. After finishing runners-up in the national championship in 2004 (behind Dolphins FC), Enyimba won the double in 2005, winning its fourth Nigerian championship and its first Nigerian Cup

-Sun.wp_posts