It happened at the National Stadium, Lagos. The Eagles were fighting to qualify for the Italia ’90 World Cup. Angola came with a bunch of unknown players managed by Jevaldo Ferreira. One of them bore the name Jesus. It also happened in Kigali when Christ came on for Rayon Sports against Enyimba.
On Saturday August 12, 1989, Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji was feeling the Sports City turf for the very first time. Armed with a chain of university degrees obtained in Italy, the dreadlocked midfielder made his debut at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, in January 1988. He was a delight to watch as Nigeria pushed aside Algeria to qualify for the Seoul ’88 Olympic Games.
Okwaraji made the Eagles squad to the Maroc’88 Africa Nations Cup and was outstanding against Cameroon in a group game where he scored the fasted goal of the tournament in the second minute. Both nations met again in the grand finale. The Indomitable Lions got a dubious penalty kick after Henry Nwosu’s beautiful goal was disallowed by Mauritanian referee, Idrissa Sarr.
Also known as ‘Sammy Sparkle’ or ‘Wasky Pele’, the Germany based star became an Olympian later in the year in a competition the Eagles, captained by Sylvanus Okpala, could not win any of their three group matches. They were given a 4-0 drubbing by Brazil, parading Romario.
Jesus and the Angolans came to Lagos in 1989. Okwaraji had been called up by Paul Hamilton after being left out for a while. He was quite excited and wanted to prove to his fans that playing at the National stadium was a dream come true. Wasky Pele was given jersey No.6.
Referee Mawukpona Hounnake Kouassi, from Togo gave the Nigerian a yellow card in the first half. He was eager to impress the world but the Palancas Negras were out to frustrate him. Probably, this English speaking Pele had key to Eagles victory. Nigeria did get a goal.
In the second half, Jesus was introduced as a substitute. His name was of interest. Jesus was rough, so rough that less than 10 minutes after he came on, the referee cautioned him for a tackle on Samson Siasia. Before anyone could shout Luanda, Jesus was hard on Etim Esin. Hounnake -Kouassi sent him away with a red card.
Then things began to happen. The referee was no Pilate and there was no Judas in the field of play The situation changed. The arena became Golgotha. Okwaraji, without anyone around him and far away from the ball, suddenly fell to the ground. Siasia rushed to help him up. Before the referee noticed what was happening, the player lay motionless.
The stands were also breeding death. Five fans died of suffocation because of over crowding. Shawu Tijani, Niyi Monsuro, Oluseyi Alashe, Udoka Agwu and Elebuwa were identified as the dead. The game continued as an ambulance picked Sammy Sparkle and moved straight to the Lagos General Hospital, Marina where he was confirmed death. Heart failure, reports said.
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Jesus flew back to Angola but that match forced Pillar of Sports, Chief Moshood Abiola, to fire all members of the Sports Desk of the Concord newspapers. The publisher was furious that his own paper missed the story of Okwaraji’s death which he witnessed. Sports Editor, Pat Odili and his team that included Chris Eseka, Lat Ogunmade and Muyiwa Daniel were moved. In came Kunle Solaja, from the African Concord magazine.
The Eagles vowed to qualify for the Mundial. It did not happen. A new coach, Clemens Westerhof, took over. In an all important decider against Cameroon, Peter Rufai, was dropped at the Lagos airport. In Douala, second choice goalie, David Ngodigha, was stretchered off. That was how Aloy Agu made his debut. The Indomitable Lions were 1-0 winners.
On Sunday September, 16, 2018 Enyimba were in Rwanda for the first leg of the Confederations Cup quarter finals.The hosts tried all they could to get a goal but keeper Thomas Afelokhai refused to be beaten. Two minutes to time, their Brazilian coach,Roberto Oliveira Goncalves, pushed in Mbondi Christ for the elusive goal.
Enyimba coach, Usman Abdallah, is a muslim. He already had Mohammed[Farouk]. It became Christ for Rayon Sports and Mohammed for Enyimba. Abdallah then introduced a Governor[Ernest] for Samuel Adetunji. It was like Samuel opened the book of Psalms as he stepped aside. The match ended scoreless.
It is interesting that the Angolan and Rayon Sports coaches who chose Jesus and Christ respectively for their teams, speak Portuguese.
