Ihuoma Chiedozie, Enugu
After 32 years, Enugu Rangers have a realistic chance of winning the Nigerian league title again. And that is according to many, barring any unlikely results in the last round of matches on Sunday. Rangers are currently top of the table with 60 points, with second-place Rivers United three points behind. A win, or a draw, in their last match against El Kanemi Warriors, would make the result of the Rivers United versus Akwa United tie in Uyo inconsequential, and also hand the Coal City side the trophy before their ecstatic fans at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, on Sunday.
Already, the management and supporters of the Enugu outfit are celebrating the championship. It’s been 32 years of disappointments, failures, heartaches and pains for one of Nigeria’s biggest and most supported football clubs.
Formed in 1970, shortly after the Civil War, Rangers were more than just a football club; they represented the spirit and pride of the Igbos, despite the bitter disappointment and untold sufferings of the lost war.
Nicknamed Flying Antelopes, the team soon became a household name in Nigeria and on the continent, winning league titles in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1982 and 1984.
Rangers also excelled in the Challenge Cup, now known as the Federation Cup, winning the oldest football competition in the land in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1983.
It also won a continental title, African Cup Winners’ Cup, in 1977, after finishing as runners-up in the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1975.
At the height of its glory, the club paraded players who formed the nucleus of the national teams, such as the captain of the 1980 Nations Cup winning team, Christian Chukwu, Emmanuel Okala, Aloysius Atuegbu, Ifeanyi Onyedika and Sylvanus Okpala.
However, the good times ended too soon, 14 years after, when they last won the league title in 1984. That was how far it lasted.
After so many unsuccessful trials, frustrated fans attributed the club’s league hoodoo to voodoo but all that is about to change after 90 minutes.
“We have not started celebrating, the supporters have started their own celebrations but the club’s technical crew and the players will start our own after the 90 minutes on Sunday when the cup will be handed over to us,” Rangers Technical Director, Christian Chukwu, a part of the squad that won the last title for Rangers, said.
Truly, Enugu has been in celebration mood, even with the club yet to get their hands on the trophy. Our correspondent observed at various bars, markets, parks and other public places, that, Rangers, and not top European club sides are the topic of discussion among the old and young. Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi are no longer their favourite players. Instead, the likes of Obinna Nwobodo, Aguda Godwin, Bobby Clement, Chisom Egbuchulam, Okey Odita, among others, as well as the coach, Imama Amapakabo are their new-found heroes.
A trader at the popular Ogbete Market in Enugu, Nnanna Okey, told our correspondent said, “It’s unbelievable, it feels like a dream.”
Some students at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium on Thursday, said they were practicing choreographic displays, to be performed after the final match.
Our correspondent also observed that proprietors and managers of various bars, gardens and clubs in the Coal City are anticipating a business boom on Sunday.
“It is going to be a big party,” Rex, who manages a bar in the Independence Layout area, told our correspondent.
The club’s General Manager, Paul Chibuzor, said the club’s imminent victory in the 2015/16 season was ordained by God.
“This is something that God has ordained. We have not won for 32 years – Rangers is a very big club and it was very painful to be without the cup for so many years. At the beginning of the season, we prayed, visited orphanages and asked God to give us victory.
“The boys are well motivated. I thank the management team, the players and the coaching crew; the coach, Imama Amapakabo, and the boys have been wonderful. Chukwu did a great job. The fans, Enugu people and Igbos in general, have been very supportive,” he stated.
On the secret behind the team’s brilliant showing, Chibuzor said, “Hard work, dedication, knowing what you want, and the assistance from the governor. The boys are dedicated and they know what they want, and the management makes sure they get what they want.
“From the beginning of the season, the boys were together with the technical crew, they were camped together in the same place. That way, there was a seamless flow of communication between the players, the technical crew and the management. We were united and worked together.”
He added that all the South-East governors were expected to witness the last match against El Kanemi.
But Chairman, Rangers Supporters Club, Ibuchukwu Nwodo, attributed the success story to a protest they staged against the club’s management in 2015.
“Last year, we demonstrated against the management; we were not fighting anybody but that particular demonstration put everybody in check because before then, the board had not been sitting for two years. After the demonstration, the board became serious. For the first time, a screening exercise was conducted at the beginning of the season and fresh, talented young players were selected,” Nwodo said.
The game that put Rangers firmly on the league’s driver’s seat was the 2-1 win over Ikorodu United in Abeokuta, as Rivers faltered to a 0-0 draw against Abia Warriors at home.
For ex-club chairman, Chike Nzelu, that game was the deciding factor. “Thirty-two years is not 32 days, all these years I have been praying that one day Rangers will win the league. I was in Abeokuta when we defeated Ikorodu and to me, that was the final before the final.”
Nwodo said the fans played a major role in that delicate situation.
He added, “Before the match against Ikorodu, the supporters told the players that they will go places, we made them understand that this is just a stepping stone to a successful footballing career. We never relented in our support for the team.
“This season was the first time that the supporters attended up to 14 away matches and that contributed to the good showing in many away games.”
What other way to break a jinx that some had ascribed to a curse than to turn Rangers home ground to a ‘holy land.’
“To many, it is Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium but to us the supporters, it is a cathedral and we are the worshippers,” Nwodo said.
Leader of Rangers 12th Man Fan Group, Chijioke Ezeoke said, “At the beginning of the season we decided that we had to let the players know that they were playing for us the fans and not just for the governor or the government.
“We got involved, and with time we saw that the support we gave them was having a positive effect on the players. We introduced a Player of the Month Award for the players and the selected player will be invited to a dinner with us. He will come with a teammate and the coach and it was appreciated by the players.
“We increased the level of noise we made whenever they team played, we made them understand that they were appreciated and they returned the gesture.”
General Secretary of the club’s board, Steve Oruruo, says the happiness that came with Rangers’ feat is indescribable.
“There is no better way of repaying the fans for their years of suffering, perseverance, dedication and support,” he said.
Rangers have already secured a CAF Champions League slot and Oruruo said they are already looking at a successful campaign in Africa’s top club football showpiece.
“The Rangers of old achieved a lot, so that is a challenge for the new Rangers. We are thinking of doing well next season, we want to win the league back-to-back and do well in the Champions League. Nigerian clubs have not been doing well in the competition in recent times, so we want Rangers to make a difference.”
Victories come with certain decisions that could make or mar teams. Already, Nzelu is already calling for a ‘surgical operation’ on the club’s management.
“Rangers winning the league this season was not because of the current management, they did their best but their best was not good enough. There is need for a surgical operation on the management,” Nzelu said.
But the state government is ecstatic over the club’s success. Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Louis Amoke, told our correspondent that the victory was a result of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s commitment to the club’s welfare.
“It’s a good omen for Enugu State that after 32 years the club was able to win the league again. The governor’s commitment has paid off and it is a very joyful development. He recognised the value of Rangers to the people – Rangers is not just about Enugu State, it is the pride of Ndigbo everywhere and this victory is for all those who support the club. This victory has also shown that Enugu State is indeed in the hands of God,” Amoke said.
Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
P
