Keep away from Enyimba if it is a Cup final and the date is 12th. Those who dared the Aba Elephants still live to regret losing in the final. From Ismaili, Egypt to Abuja, Port Harcourt, and, of course, Lagos.
Keep away from Enyimba if it is a Cup final and the date is 12th. Those who dared the Aba Elephants still live to regret losing in the final. From Ismaili, Egypt to Abuja, Port Harcourt, and, of course, Lagos.
Nigeria failed to win the CAF Champions’ League for 35 years until Enyimba stormed Egypt in 2003 to lift the trophy at the expense of Ismailia. And victory came on December 12, 2003. The North Africans were so frustrated that they tried to disrupt the game and even lost a fan in the process.
Ismailia thought the cup was theirs especially after they had given the Aba Ngwa Boys a 6-1 drubbing in one of the group matches. That result turned out to be Nigeria’s worst CAF Champions’ League record. From ashes came conquerors.
The Egyptians tried every trick under the Nile to torment Enyimba. About 30 minutes to Cairo, the ADC flight that moved the Nigerians, was ordered to land in Asyut because of inclement weather. Flight Commander, Captain Sunny Arome, touched down only to realize that it was a military base.
For over an hour the passengers and crew were not allowed to disembark. The aircraft was surrounded by troops. It did not occur to anyone that Ismailia and the soldiers were playing mind games with their guests. Asyut lies in the Desert and that act actually turned out to be the dessert.
Permission was eventually granted for the journey to be concluded. At the Cairo Airport, the Nigerian contingent got more than enough dose of anti malarial tablets. Many of us did not know there were mosquitoes outside the tropics of Sub Saharan Africa.
It was much later that we realized that the drugs were actually meant to weaken Enyimba players. Thanks to the Nigerian Embassy in Cairo, the Egyptians were beaten to their ploy. Accompanying journalists and members of the Supporters Club took over the below standard As Salam Hotel reserved for the players who were expected to be kept awake by tumultuous Ismaili fans all through the night.
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Enyimba made history by defeating the hosts 3-2 aggregate to win the trophy. That feat did not go down well with the Egyptians who planned to steal the Cup. Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu outsmarted them. Before they could shout Mubarak, Kalu had taken the trophy out of the Stadium and straight to the Airport where a private jet was waiting. The Cup was flown to Lebanon before it arrived Nigeria.
It was a lucky day. And there was a man of luck on the ADC flight. Co-Pilot, Justus Ekah, had told Capt. Arome that Enyimba would make history. Ekah was also co-pilot of the Nigeria Airways flight that took Chioma Ajunwa to Atlanta, United States to win Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medal.
Enyimba defended the cup successfully in 2004. It was a tough match against Etoile of Tunisia. On December 12, at the Abuja National Stadium the Elephants relied on penalty kicks to become the first to retain it since 1970.
Away from the continent, Enyimba never won the Federation [Challenge ]Cup until 2005. They had not played in the grand finale. However, on November 2005, the Abia side beat Lobi Stars at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt to earn a deserved first.
That luck came again in 2009. Enyimba drowned Sharks at the Teslim Balogun, Stadium,Lagos to lift the Federation Cup for the second time. The date was July 12. That ground turned out to be a good turf for the Elephants. When the Stadium was opened, they played a goalless draw with Asante Kotoko, of Ghana. In 2007, Enyimba became Premier League champions for the fifth time. Victory was achieved at the same venue.
It is also interesting to learn that when Shooting Stars won the Africa Winners Cup in 1976, date was December 12. What it means is that Nigeria won three continental soccer titles on December 12: 1976,2003 and 2004 respectively.
Ghanaians do not celebrate December 12 . On that date in 1982, they hosted their first CAF Champions League grand finale. That was Ghana’s seventh finals in the competition. And right before all of them , Kotoko could not cancel a 3-0 first leg loss to Al Ahly of Egypt. They got a 1-1 draw and the Cup was carted away to the Nile.
