Nigerian Football

FORMER SHOOTING STARS’ LORDS, PLAYERS LAMENT 20 YEARS OF UNFULFILLED PROMISES

Published

6 years ago

December 13, 2018

Elder Bode Oyewole, the chairman of Shooting Stars when the club last won a national competition 20 years ago has cried out over unfulfilled promises made by the Oyo State Government to the team.

Oyewole made the disclosure on the 20^thanniversary of Shooting Stars victory in the Nigerian professional league. Incidentally, the club has not won any competition since the defeat of Udoji United to win the league.

Shooting Stars got relegated the following season to become the first Nigerian defending champion to be relegated.

According to the former chairman of the club, the then administrator, Commissioner of Police Amen Edore Oyakhire announced monetary rewards as well as allocation of lands to the 18 players, five technical crew members as well as eight board members and nine administrative staff members.

According to him, the promises were not fulfilled 20 years later. Some of those to benefit have since died. They include Pius Daniel and Coach Rafiu Salami.

Among others, the state government was to give a million naira cash rewards to each of the 18 players and two million naira and a plot of land to each if the coaching crew and board members.

According to Oyewole, “Certificates ofOccupancy (C of O) were issued in respect of the land at what is now Kolapo Ishola Estate, Akobo in Ibadan but were withdrawn by Governor Lamidi Adesina when assumed office in 1999.”

Oyewole remarked that no reasons were given for the withdrawal of the C of O.

That has left the players and officials with having to cope with the unfulfilled promises.

Nigerian Football

Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic

Published

6 hours ago

October 8, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Nigeria’s Godwin Iwelumo terrorising Egypt’s goalmouth 47 years ago in an October 8 match. Nigeria won 4-0 inflicting the worst ever defeat on Egypt in a World Cup qualifier.

BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.

The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.

That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.

Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.

The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.

Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.

Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.

Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.

Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!

Nigeria on 8 October

1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.

Nigerian Football

Rivers flow to the top!

Published

2 days ago

October 6, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.

It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.

Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85^th minute.

Sunday Results