Posted by Eddie Akalonu on
There have been so much denials as to the efficacy of ‘Juju'. ‘ in sports and football in particular. Call it other names as Voodoo' or Black-Magic. Whichever it is, two schools of thought hold views on this. There are those who believe in the use of what some have now come to identify as ‘Remote Control' or ‘Bendel Insurance.'
There have been so much denials as to the efficacy of ‘Juju'. ‘ in sports and football in particular. Call it other names as Voodoo' or Black-Magic. Whichever it is, two schools of thought hold views on this. There are those who believe in the use of what some have now come to identify as ‘Remote Control' or ‘Bendel Insurance.'
Another school of thought are the highly religious and spiritual who say nothing of such exist. Well, one man, Chief Eric Ihemtuge, who is the chairman of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Imo State Chapter, has openly admitted being part of something like that in the past when he began as a football supporter with the defunct Spartans FC of Owerri, which later metamorphosed into Iwuanyanwu Nationale.
A printer by profession, Ihemtuge, who is also the Interim chairman of the Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC Supporters Club, explained how the part he played in it and what the club plans to do to on it's performance in the area.
Excerpts :
First, why are you a football supporter? How did you cometo be one?
I love football and sports in general. In time past, whenever I got into the stadium in Owerri to watch the Spartans play, I got fascinated by the antics and styles displayed by Sylvester Okoro who carried the club flag and made runs round the field of play. I was highly attracted and later, during an encounter with Sylvester, I found out he was the public relations officer of the club. I then expressed my interest to join as a supporter and he gave me a form to fill. I recall that the chairman of the Supporters Club then was Nwankwo Kanu's father. He got me registered as a supporter. The matches Spartans played then attracted me a lot. I decided to be a committed member. Since then, I have not missed any of the matches played by the club.
What memory do you recall of your first major trip with the team outside Owerri?
My first major trip with the team was when we played Ghana's Hassacas in the WAFU Cup Final in 1985, which Spartans lost by a lone goal both in Lagos and Accra. It was one of the most disappointing matches I was to get involved in to date. It was so to me because when we got to Lagos, we slept in an open space with just the mosquito net covering us. That was on our way to Accra. It was not enough to ward off the serious stings on us that night.
So, how did the trip to Accra go for members of the Supporters Club?
To me, it was okay because that was the first time I was to enter an aircraft on a journey. But the most important thing I would recall was that at that time, we believed in juju. We wanted to win the return match in Accra. We consulted the jujuman who told us to take a live- Duck to the match. He said that was what would neutralise the Ghanaians' own juju. Surprisingly, when we got to the Murtala Mohammed Airport, the live Duck was stopped from embarking on the journey. The security operatives insisted we must not travel with the live duck ortherwise, we would have the trip stalled. After much argument, we reluctantly obeyed and left without the Duck.
So, what was the psyche of the team and supporters when they entered the match without doing the Jujuman's bidding?
Spartans really played out their hearst in that match and it was by stroke of luck that Hassacas won it. We realised that we lost the match in Lagos. It was the favouritism of the officials in team selection that cost Spartans the cup. Evans Ikwuegbu was at his best then and ought to have been picked to man the post. But the coaches chose Goddy Ebomuche, who was not so committed as Evans. In Accra, Evans was fantastic in goal. He was marvelous the way he kept the Ghanaians at bay. It was by stroke of luck that they scored. They never had it so easy. So, if we had handled that first leg in Lagos well, Spartans would have won that cup.
After that, what became of the romance with juju in matches of the club? Was it continued or discontinued?
It was bye, bye. The team did so well there even though we lost. We felt that if the team could do as well without it, then no more.
Can you recall things that strike your fancy since the romance with the Owerri club began?
First, I was chairman of Iwuanyanwu Nationale Supporters Club from 1990 to 1994. After that, I was a member of the Continental Committee for Victory for Nationale. It was after that that I rose to become the chairman of Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Imo Chapter.
So, what has the chapter been doing apart from following teams to matches?
We have acquired two plots of land inside the Dan Anyiam Stadium. The immediate plan of the chapter is to develop the land. We want to build a state-of-the-art modern club house. Although plans have been concluded on the development, we are constrained by the high cost of building the club house. We have, however, reached a decision to seek funds to develop the club house. We want to make it a real recreation centre which everybody would love and enjoy. We expect it to contain a conference room for meetings, offices and a cyber café to generate funds so that we can keep the club house afloat.
Onyesor deplores state of Sports-city Pool
... Plans swimming Classic
President of the Nigeria Swimming Federation, NSF, Honourable Alwell Onyesor has deplored the dilapidated state of the swimming pool at the National Stadium in Lagos, just as he has also renewed faith in the Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili, never to faulter on his passion for the sport.
The Governorm who is a Life Patron of the federation,, he stated, is not in doubt to ever provide the support needed to re-enforce the benefits gained in the developmental programmes of the past four years.
Dans Adokiye, the NSF secretary-general who spoke in Lagos after a meeting with Onyesor, quoted him as saying nothing would separate Governor Odili from swimming.
'If we recall, the governor was president for four years and he instigated most of the developmental projects that recharged the sport. He may no longer be the president but he has a capable hand in his Commissioner for Sports who has stepped in to continue the good works.
"Onyesor made it clear to me that Governor Odili cannot abandon swimming. He has promised not to standby and watch his own commissioner fail. He has re-assured us that he is still part and parcel of swimming," Adokiye explained
Indeed, Adokiye noted that one of the biggest competitions on the NSF calender, the 5th Rivers State Governor's Cup Competition, would hold in Port Harcourt in the first week of December.
"And that's one of the legacies our former president left. It's the biggesty in our calender."
He said that during the meeting, the commissioner promised he would make swimming so attractive in Nigeria, it would rank among the best.
'He has promised to take swimming to another level and make it attractive to swimmers, sponsors and the general public. That is why after the re-constitution of the board early this year, there has been new programmes. One of those the president is so much interested in nurturing to fruition is the Swimming Classic. This has been fixed to hold in Yenegoa on October 1, to mark the creation of Bayelsa State. Hon. Onyesor said he has gotten assurances from both Governor Alamieyeseigha and Rear Admiral Porbeni about their intention to sponsor the Classic."
'In line with swimming president's desire to make the sport attractive and amenable to sponsors, he revealed to me that already, one of them, Elf Oil, has agreed to join hands with the president to keep the sport going. He said Elf would be backing the Age- Group Swimming Championships, a developmental programme of the federation, because they regard both Onyesor and Governor Odili as friends and would want to support the laudable projects they have for the sport," Adokiye said.
The NSF scribe emphasised that while the president of the federation is leaving no stone unturned in seeing to it that the sport gets re- engineered under his tenure, he said Onyesor equally expressed shock and disbelief that the Sports and Social Development Ministry has left the National Stadium swmming pool in Lagos, degenerate and inactive for years now.
'Hon. Onyesor was not happy with the condition of the swimming pool. He recalled that Governor Odili as president, had once opted to spearhead a move to renovate the pool but that it was the Sports Ministry that refused the gesture.
'The Sports ministry has neglected the swimming pool because they don't like swimming. But I know it is a sport that can give the country the medals we want from international competitions if given the necessary backing to develop. It's rather unfortunate. I can guess that we have refused to invest in swimming and its facilities because it is not football," he quoted Onyesor as saying.
Besides, the federation is boosting efforts at increasing the tempo of activity and development. "That is why," Adokiye said, "the president has gotten assurances from the Chief Executive of Royal Paragon Hotel, Port Harcourt, Chief Jerome Ekeh, to sponsor an Age Group competition in the Garden City come next year.