Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has given insight into why there will not be any holiday for the Super Eagles.
Enoch explained this while speaking with newsmen shortly after he led the delegation of the Super Eagles, who were the first runner-up in the just concluded African Cup of Nations, hosted by Cote d’Ivoire, to the presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, noting that the team will prepare for the African Games in March, World Cup qualifiers in June and the Olympics in July.
He noted that though Nigerians had expected the Super Eagles to win the AFCON, the team about eleven years ago had not performed the way it did in the just concluded tournament.
The Minister also pointed out that the players and the entire crew were surprised with the reward they got from President Bola Tinubu as they never had expected that such a reward would come their way.
At the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, where President Tinubu received the players, the officials of the Nigeria Football Federation, as well as the technical crew of the Super Eagles, the President rewarded them with national award, Member Order of the Niger, flats for each of them from the government housing project as well as plots of land from the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nyesom Wike.
While reacting to the President’s gesture, the Minister of Sports Development said, “I think that the President has lived true to type. I mean, the incentives he announced for the team were overwhelming, and I’m not sure even the players themselves expected what he announced for them.
“That’s the hallmark of a president who’s a sports loving president, and who is happy with the outcome of the AFCON.”
On the outcome of the AFCON, Enoh said, “And about the competition, AFCON happens every two years, so let me say that since for about the last 11 years, we have not come out the way we have in this last AFCON and things like that.
“Don’t forget, we may have won silver. It wasn’t what we expected. But the last time we won Silver was 24 years ago. I believe the boys did well no doubt. They may not have played as good as we expected in the finals. But that is how sports is. That is how football is.
“I’m glad with the kind of support that the team received from Nigerians. My hope is that, we will be able to sustain this winning momentum and continue to relive back the glorious past that we’ve had in in football and in sports generally.”
On the efforts of the Ministry to ensure that the team comes top in subsequent competitions, the Minister said, “Well, we are returning to work immediately, there is no holiday for us, there is no added period for us. I mean, in March, we’re going to Accra for the African games, in June, the World Cup qualifiers would start again and in July we’re going for the Olympics in Paris, so it’s going to be a whole lot, full of activities and hard work.”
